School Trouble
by DPcrazy
Summary: Sequel to Where Do You Live. Now that Danny's previous adventure is over, it's time to start new. One day, the goverment agents want to talk with Danny Phantom. They tell him that under order of Mayor Masters, what a suprise, he must now attend school.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is the fic idea that got the most votes, so here it is. The sequal to Where Do You Live?!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own DP in any way.**

* * *

"Get off me!" Danny screamed at a giant ghost snake that had its tail tightly wrapped around Danny's body.

The serpent hissed at the boy and coiled its tail tighter. Danny let out a massive blast of energy from his body, blowing the snake off of him. The creature landed a few feet away. It hissed louder at Danny and bared its ferocious fangs. The snake charged, but Danny put up a shield, blocking it. Danny was concentrating on holding the shield when his cell phone rang. Danny used one arm to continue using the shield power while using the other to pick up the phone. It was Sam.

"Sam, I'm a little busy right now." Danny told her in a strained tone.

"Well, you might want to hurry up. We have a problem." Sam reported.

Danny let his shield die and used his spare hand to hammer the creature with ecto-blasts.

"What kind of problem?" Danny questioned.

Danny used an ice blast to freeze the snake. Then, he took out the Fenton Thermos and sucked the troublesome ghost inside. He sighed. Then, Danny directed his full attention to the phone.

"You need to be here quick." Sam ordered. Danny obeyed and started his journey to her house while she continued talking. "The government agents from the adoption program are coming. They just called and said that they wanted to talk to you."

"Be there in a minute." Danny assured, hanging up the phone.

Danny landed outside her window. He knocked. In an instant, Sam flung the window open and he flew inside.

"Quick, you need to overshadow my parents again." Sam instructed.

Danny duplicated himself into three. His copies flew out of the room to go overshadow Mr. and Mrs. Manson.

"Done." Danny confirmed.

"Okay, they'll be here any minutes, so…" She was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "That's them. Ready?"

"I guess so." Danny groaned.

The two teens made it down the stairs. Sam opened the door to reveal a tall, muscular man; it was the man who had first told Danny about the whole "adoption" thing.

"Ms. Manson, are your parents home?" He questioned.

"Yeah. I'll go get them." Sam responded. She ran off, leaving Danny behind.

Danny stood there for a moment, not saying a word. He stared after were Sam had gone, hoping desperately that she'd be back soon. After a few moments, Sam returned with the overshadowed adults. Her grandma tagged along as well.

"What's this about?" Sam's grandma questioned.

"We have important news concerning Mr. Phantom." The man stated.

Uh, oh. This couldn't be good. Danny grew very anxious.

"Can you _please_ just call me Danny?" Danny requested.

Instead of saying anything else, the man just handed Danny a note. Danny's eyes scanned the paper. His face switched to an expression of disbelief.

"What?! No!" Danny exclaimed.

"Danny, what is it?" Sam questioned, taking the paper from her stunned friend.

The Goth girl read it as well. Her expression formed into a copy of Danny's.

"Are you crazy?!" She shouted. "This can't be right!"

"I'm afraid that Mayor Masters has requested that you attend school. He believes that _all_ children, ghost or not, should get an education." The man confirmed.

"Figures that Vlad's behind this." Danny muttered angrily.

"Does he have anything better to do then make you miserable?" Sam whispered irritably.

"Apparently not." Danny answered.

"Mr. and Mrs. Manson will be required to enroll you and you will need to start in two days." The man instructed.

"How am I supposed to go to school?! I can't go as Danny Phantom! I get mobbed just walking around!" Danny complained.

"Wait, can he use a secret identity?" Grandma Manson questioned.

"The mayor did not say he couldn't." The man responded with a brief, unusual smile.

Sam and her grandma smiled at Danny who was wearing an expression that screamed "please kill me."

"I will be back here tomorrow to gather the information on your chosen alternate identity and to check that you have enrolled." The man finished, walking away and getting back into his car.

"I'm doomed." Danny stated.

"Maybe it won't be so bad." Sam suggested.

"Really? I want to see _you_ trying to pull of three identities." Danny retorted quietly to Sam.

"I didn't say it wouldn't be hard. Just, use the duplication power for Danny Fenton and then we'll work on one for your ghost form." Sam suggested.

"Sam, I can only use the duplication power for an hour or two and then I get totally wiped out." Danny argued.

"Well, how about you only use the duplication power in the classes that both of your identities are in. Then, in the classes that you aren't you can pick an identity." Sam offered.

"I guess it's the best plan we've got." Danny agreed.

"Now, let's head to the mall. We have to put a new secret identity together for you." Sam told commanded.

"Ugh." Danny groaned.

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**Kinda rushed, but oh, well. This was more of a "ge tthe point across" chapter. Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all of my awesome reviewers! I'm glad that you are liking it so far.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own DP now and never will.**

* * *

A few hours later, Danny and Sam returned.

"Come on, Danny. Show me." Sam begged.

Danny groaned as he came out from behind the door. He was wearing a black sweater over his normal ghost torso and had removed the gloves. Baggy, dark-colored jeans went over the bottom half of his costume and hung low so that the legs covered part of his boots, making them seem almost like normal, white shoes. Danny wore his hood up to cover his white hair and sunglasses to cover his green eyes. His face was dim in the shading from his hood and not much of his glowing skin showed, so he looked decently like a normal kid. The clothes were baggy enough to hide his muscles that he had earned from all of the ghost fighting. It was enough so that no one would be able to tell the difference between Danny Phantom and his new identity.

"Nice. I don't think anyone will be able to tell the difference." Sam commented truthfully.

Danny walked over to a full size mirror to look at his full appearance. It wasn't too bad and he didn't think that anyone would be able to tell that he was Danny Phantom or a ghost, for that matter. The faint glow from his body was diminished from the extra clothes and the aura only showed on his skin, but no one would pay that much attention and even if they did, they'd be too blunt to figure it out.

"Okay, now all you need is a new name." Sam stated.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Danny asked irritably.

"A little." Sam admitted with a small smile.

"Um, how about D.J?" Danny suggested.

"Why D.J?" Sam questioned.

"My first name is Danny and my middle name is James." Danny reminded her.

"Don't you think that that's a bit obvious? Besides, you still need a last name." Sam noted.

"Well, I'll just sign up as Daniel James…something…and just tell everyone to call me D.J. That way, if anyone _does_ call me Daniel or something, I won't be confused." Danny reasoned.

"Fine. Now all we need is a fake last name." Sam stated.

"Um…Smith?" Danny suggested, not being very creative.

"Come on, Danny. I _know_ that you can come up with something a little more unique than _that_." Sam urged.

"Fine, then. How does Parker sound?" Danny decided.

"I guess it'll do." Sam agreed. "I'll go tell my grandma, that way, she can sign you up. You'd better go home, I'll call you later."

Danny nodded. He turned intangible, letting the clothes slide to the floor. He then picked up the bundle of clothing and flew off toward his house. This wasn't going to be a pleasant experience.

* * *

Danny was lying on his bed, thinking of ways that he could get around this. The ghost catcher was _definitely_ out of the question. After he realized that he'd have to use the duplication power and he'd end up skipping a few classes every now and then, he thought about all of the other problems that he'd have to solve. He narrowed it down to the three major ones. One: he'd have to find out some way for both his duplicate and him to escape at the same time during ghost attacks (so that he could fight at full power and the fact that he wasn't sure if he could hold a duplicate over long distances) without seeming suspicious. Two: He'd have to make sure that no one accidentally pulled down his hood or anything. Three: He'd have to do twice as much work. His train of thought was interrupted by a loud ringing. Danny picked up his phone. 

"Danny, they want you to start on tomorrow. You have to be there early and stop by the principal's office." Sam reported from the other end.

"Tomorrow?! I didn't think that they'd make me start that soon!" Danny complained.

"Neither did I, but I don't think that we have much of a say in the matter. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." Sam hung up.

Danny hung up as well and sighed. "Just when I thought my life couldn't get _any_ more complicated…" Danny mused.

* * *

The next morning, Danny walked to school early, as Fenton of course. Sam and Tucker weren't with him, but he'd meet up with them later. At last, Danny reached the school. He quietly pulled open the big, heavy doors and stepped inside. Before he went to the office, he went into the boys bathroom to get changed. He brought up the two white rings that caused his transformation. They split at the center and traveled vertically, one moving up, and one down. After the transformation had been complete, standing there was now Danny Phantom. Danny opened his book bag to take out his disguise. He pulled all of the clothes on. Once he was done, he quickly checked himself in the mirror before walking out into the empty halls and toward the principal's office. 

"Here it goes." He said, taking a deep breath.

Danny pulled open the door. Inside, principal Ishiyama sat on a chair, waiting for him. She looked up from the papers that she was sorting.

"Hello…" She glanced at one of the papers "Daniel Parker." She greeted.

"My name's D.J." He corrected, feeling a little awkward doing so.

"Alright,_ D.J._" She rectified. "Here is your class schedule, here is your locker number, and here are all of your books."

She handed him a few pieces of paper and then pointed to a stack of books. 'D.J.' sighed. He silently picked up the books and headed out of the office. He glanced at the small piece of paper. Locker 913. That was a good distance from his normal locker. He rushed to fill his alternate locker with his new stuff. He glanced at his schedule. He had the same class as his human self first. He glanced around. No one was in the halls yet. He quickly duplicated himself and had his duplicate turn into his normal self. Hopefully he could pull this off as well as Vlad had been able to. His duplicate rushed to Danny _Fenton's_ locker. As soon as other Danny ran off, the bell rung and students came flooding into the halls.

Danny sighed. This was going to be a long day. He walked as inconspicuously as he could toward Mr. Lancer's class. He didn't want to be either the first or the last one there because, either way, he'd have all eyes staring at him. So, he slinked into the small classroom with the rest of the students, who didn't take the time to notice him. He walked to the back, sitting in the seat that he knew was empty behind the place where he and his friends usually sat. He tried to make himself as unnoticeable as possible.

A few moments later, Sam, Tucker, and his duplicate came walking in. Sam looked back and forth at him and his duplicate for a minute before remembering what Danny was doing. The trio sat right in front of him. Sam turned around quietly.

"Hey. So far, so good?" She questioned.

Danny nodded.

"Hey, Sam. Who's he?" Tucker inquired.

"You didn't tell him?" Danny whispered.

"I forgot." Sam excused.

The geek looked extremely confused. "Tell me what?"

Sam leaned in close to his ear and started whispering. Tucker's eyes widened. Then, he, too, looked back and forth from the duplicate and Danny. Sam whispered something else in his ear.

"Dude, is that really you?" The techno-geek asked.

"Yeah." Danny whispered.

"Alright, class." Mr. Lancer greeted. "It seems that we have a new student today. Daniel Parker, would you please stand up?"

Danny reluctantly got up. He made sure to keep his head tilted down so that the shadows from his hood overtook his face and his identity. "My name's D.J." he corrected again.

"I guess that's a good thing. We already have enough _Dannys_ running around." The teacher commented.

A few people let out soft giggles. The overweight teacher was referring to Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom.

"Would you like to say anything to the class?" Lancer prodded.

"No." Danny answered stubbornly, sitting back down. He made it clear that he wasn't going to answer anything.

Lancer sighed. Great, another troublesome student.

* * *

**Okay, basic set up is done. Sorry if it seems a little boring. I promise that it'll get better later. Review Please!**

**(Pretty please with those licorice sprinkles and that black frosting you like with the little gummy bats on top?)**

**Yes, I have that commited to memory.**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is where it gets good. Just you wait.**

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Danny Phantom.**

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Danny was starting to feel the strain as he exited the classroom. He had a huge headache and he felt so weak. It was official; duplication is only good for an hour.

"Dan-D.J., you look really tired." Tucker stated, having to correct himself. He couldn't help but think of Danny as, well, Danny.

"Yeah. The duplication is really sapping my strength. I think that one of me is going to have to miss the next class." Danny replied.

"Well, the teachers already know that Fenton goes missing a lot." Sam stated.

"Good idea. I'll be right back." Danny said tiredly.

Danny and his duplicate ran around the corner. They sneaked into a janitor's closet. Once Danny was sure that no one could see them, he absorbed his duplicate. He felt a small burst of strength. Quietly and discreetly, Danny exited the closet and returned to his friends.

"Hey, losers. Where's Fenton. It's time for his daily beating." Dash questioned.

"Go away, Dash." Sam ordered.

Dash stayed where he was, but began eying the new kid. He looked Goth like that Manson girl. Figures they would be friends.

"Well, since Fenton isn't here, I guess the new kid will have to substitute. Besides, he needs his 'Welcome to Casper High' beating." Dash decided.

The jock picked up Danny by his shirt. Suddenly, Danny got extremely angry. Maybe _Fenton_ couldn't fight back, but who said D.J. couldn't? Danny almost cracked a smile at the thought. Yeah, he was risking a lot here, but Dash needed to get his head set straight. Danny knew that he was earning a reputation here and how he acted now was how everyone was going to see him, but he didn't care. For some reason, his anger and pure annoyance for the blonde boy was enough to set him off.

Dash raised his fist. Oh, yeah, the new kid was gonna get it good. Dash needed to teach him who was top dog around here before he got any smart ideas. Dash swung his fist, but it was caught by the puny kid in front of him with almost inhuman speed (technically, it _was_ inhuman speed, but Dash didn't need to know that). Dash looked shocked for a moment.

Danny, or 'D.J.,' shoved Dash's fist back at him, almost daring him to try again. Dash seemed to get the challenge and threw another punch. Danny caught it once again. Now Dash was really surprised, especially with how strong this kid's grip was. Ouch! Instead of sending the fist back, Danny raised his foot so that he could kick Dash in the chest. Danny, using only a little amount of force, kicked Dash back. He didn't want to hurt the jock, just give him the message that he wasn't one to be taken lightly and could fight back if he wanted to. Dash let go of Danny in shock and Danny took this as his moment to swiftly take Dash's captured fist and hold it behind his back. Danny stood behind Dash, holding the jerk's arm so that he couldn't move much. There was a crowd of students watching.

"Take this as a warning. Don't _ever_ pick on me and my friends again." Danny whispered in Dash's ear. Dash looked almost scared. Who the heck was this kid?

Danny let go of Dash and returned to his friends. Everyone stared after the mysterious stranger as he walked away with the Goth girl and the techno-geek. They knew now, stay away. Although, Dash most likely wouldn't heed the warning and would ask for a rematch.

"Danny, I don' think that that was a good idea." Sam commented.

"Aw, come on, Sam. Don't tell me that you didn't enjoy watching that jerk be put in his place?" Tucker questioned.

"It's just that…you've _proven_ that you're a really good fighter and strong now. What if they figure it out? And if they _do_ figure it out, they might think that you're the bad guy again. Seriously, what hero hurts a human teenager who didn't stand much of a chance?" Sam worried.

"Fine, I'll be a little more careful. It's just…I got so _mad_. It was like an instinct to fight back. Actually, when you think about all of the ghosts I fight, it probably _was_ instinct." Danny told his two friends.

"I don't see that instinct when you're Danny _Fenton_." Sam snapped.

"I get it, okay. I won't fight back unless I have to. Besides, we both know that I could have hurt him a lot more than I actually did, even without using my powers." Danny responded.

"But seriously, how great was _that_?" Tucker broke in.

Sam couldn't help but smile a little. "I have to say, it _was_ nice to see Dash knocked down off of his pedestal." Sam admitted.

The trio continued to their next class.

* * *

A few classes later, Danny sat in his chair. He had regained enough strength to form his duplicate again. Suddenly, their ghost senses went off. A loud explosion was heard as the wall was knocked down. Standing there was Skulker. All of the students other than Danny and his duplicate, which was currently in the form of D.J., fled. Once everyone was gone, Danny sucked up his duplicate and transformed into his ghostly self, making sure to turn intangible to let the extra clothes slide off. Danny put his gloves back on as he began to float. 

"What do you want, Skulker?" Danny demanded.

"Relax, whelp. I'm not here to hunt you today. I come with a message from my employer." The robot ghost announced. "He wants you to meet with him in one hour."

"And what if I refuse?" Danny questioned arrogantly.

"Then he will resort to force." Skulker replied darkly.

"Well, you can tell Vlad to bring it." Danny snapped.

"Have it your way, ghost child." Skulker responded.

With that, Skulker disappeared. Danny glared after the ghost. Finally, he picked up his disguise and flew invisibly into the hall and hid in a broom closet. Once there, he duplicated himself once more and put his disguise back on. He slipped back into the crowded hallway. Everyone was chattering with either fear, panic, or something else. Danny's friends rushed over to him and his duplicate when they spotted him…uh, them.

"What happened?" Sam and Tucker questioned in unison.

"Skulker. He said that Vlad wants to meet with me, but I refused." Danny explained.

"Would Daniel Parker please report to the principal's office? I repeat, Daniel Parker to the office." A woman's voice ordered over the intercom.

Danny sighed and walked off. In all the commotion and with his friends hiding him, no one noticed him absorb the duplicate. Danny made his way down to the office. He opened the door.

"Mr. Parker, you have a visitor." The front desk lady informed.

She led him into a separate room. In the middle of the room stood Vlad Masters. Danny scowled.

"Why, hello, Daniel. Enjoying school?" Vlad asked sarcastically.

"Why did you do this, Vlad? To make my life more complicated and miserable than it already is?" Danny demanded angrily.

"Because my first plan to get you failed. If you join me now, I can get you out of school and leading your triple life. I can only imagine how hard it must be." Vlad persuaded.

"You?! You were the one who tipped the government off?! You were the one was responsible for two of the worst weeks of my life?!" Danny shouted angrily. He took off the sun glasses to reveal his brightly glowing eyes.

"Of course, you simple boy." Vlad replied with a smirk. "I attempted to send you to the houses of your worst human enemies, people I _knew_ that you'd refuse to stay with, so that your only option would be to stay with me. Unfortunately, I did not predict that your little girlfriend would sign up last minute and save you."

"I will say it one last time; leave me alone, Vlad. I won't join you no matter _what_ you do, so you might as well give up." Danny snapped, his eyes growing brighter. He slipped his shades back on and exited the room. "Fruitloop." He muttered.

"I am not a FRUITLOOP!" Vlad screamed.

Danny was about to walk out the door when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned to see his principal preventing his escape.

"Mr. Parker, there is another matter that I would like to discuss with you." Principal Ishiyama informed Danny.

The boy groaned. Danny caught Vlad's eye as the older hybrid walked out of the room, giving Danny a twisted smile. Danny just scowled at him. Vlad left the office, giving Danny a mocking wave. Danny turned his attention back to his principal. This didn't sound like it would be a pleasant chat.

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**Sub-cliffie! Not too much of a clif-hanger, but oh, well. R3V13W P13A53! (Review Please!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I know that I didn't update yesterday, but I was kinda busy. I wasn't even expecting to be able to update again 'till at least tonight, but luckily, I go access to the computer early.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

* * *

"Mr. Parker…Daniel," The woman started. "I have been informed that you were fighting with another student. Dash Baxter?"

"Technically, I was defending myself. Besides, it's not like I actually hurt him." Danny defended.

"What do you mean 'defending yourself'?" She questioned.

"I mean; he walked up to me and told me that I needed my 'Welcome to Casper High' beating." Danny replied calmly. He made it sound like this was nothing new. "And if I'm right, you, like everyone else, will take his side because he's the star football player." Danny added.

The principal looked shocked. Was this boy suggesting that she was unfair? Something else bugged her, though. He sounded so calm, like he had done this so many times before.

"Mr. Parker, I am _not_ unfair. Yes, he is the school's star football player, but I do not give him extra privileges for that. I will also inform you that fighting with another student is against the school rules. Since it is your first day, I will let you off with a warning, but if I see you fighting with another student again, I will not hold back on punishment." She warned sternly. "Am I clear?"

"Crystal." Danny replied smoothly.

With that, Danny got up and walked out the door, leaving Principal Ishiyama staring in both confusion and shock. Something about that kid wasn't…right.

* * *

Danny sat down with his friends in human form that day. He was munching hungrily on his sandwich. 

"Guys, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up. I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to duplicate for the rest of the day and now I have to do my homework twice!" Danny fretted.

"Don't worry. We'll figure a way out of this. We always do." Sam reassured. She gave him a soft, comforting smile.

Danny returned the smile, only his a little more stressed and sad. He continued eating, but stopped quickly as someone came up behind him. The occupants of the table raised their heads to look at the approaching figure. It was Valerie.

"Hey, guys. Mind if I sit here today? The trio looked hesitant, but agreed. It would be both strange and rude if they told her that she couldn't.

"Hi, Val. What's up?" Danny greeted.

"Nothing much. Although, that new kid is kinda strange. I saw him hanging out with you guys. What's his deal, anyway?" She questioned.

Sam and Tucker stared blankly at Danny. It _was_ him after all.

"I…don't know much. He doesn't talk a whole lot." Danny explained.

"Yeah, I guess he does seem the quiet type. Is he Goth?" She asked curiously.

"Yes." Sam piped in.

Danny stared at her. Why did she just tell Valerie that he was Goth? Was it some way to tell her to back off?

"You like him, don't you?" Valerie pestered. "You gonna ask him out?"

"What?! No…I mean, he's nice and all…but I just met him and…I'm not gonna…ask him out. He's just a friend." Sam stuttered, turning bright red.

Danny felt the blush creep onto his cheeks as well. Luckily, Valerie hadn't noticed. Instead, she gave a smug smile. It screamed "yeah right, you like him."

"So, where is he?" The ghost hunter pressed.

"Is it really any of your business where _D.J._ is?" Sam snapped.

Valerie sighed. "I get it, already." Valerie groaned. Manson was going to be just as protective of 'D.J.' as she was of Danny.

With that, Valerie decided that she wasn't welcome anymore and headed off to find another seat.

"Who does she think she is? Going around and asking about people's personal lives." Sam mumbled.

"Sam, chill. Besides, Valerie and Phantom have come to a truce, so we don't have to worry about her obliterating me if she finds out." Danny informed.

"Dude, you know that we just worry about you." Tucker stated.

Danny sighed. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

Great, now it was time for gym class. Danny decided to take this class as Fenton for two reasons. One; He wouldn't be able to wear the traditional Casper High gym outfit without blowing his identity. And two; His paranormal strength might kick in and the last thing he needed was more attention than he had already grabbed. 

Danny was running laps around the indoor track with Tucker since Sam was way too fast for them. They were panting. Tucker seemed to be having a little more trouble than Danny. Mostly due to the fact that Danny had been fighting ghosts for so long and had gained a little bit of muscle.

"Fenton. May I speak with you?" Ms. Teslaff barked.

Danny cautiously walked over to the gym teacher.

"Yes, Ms. Teslaff?" Danny panted.

"Where is Parker?" She questioned sternly. She gave him a penetrating glare and it made you feel like she knew that you knew.

"W…Why are you asking me?" Danny stuttered nervously.

"Because I've seen you and your friends hanging out with him." Teslaff explained. "Now _where is he_?"

"I…I don't know." Danny stammered.

The teacher sighed and dismissed the kid, much to Danny's relief. She was actually scarier than some of the ghosts he faced. Danny ran back to his best friend. Sam ran up and joined them.

"What was that all about?" Sam inquired.

"She was asking me where 'D.J.' was." Danny replied, using air quotes around his fake name.

"What'd you say?" Tucker asked.

"I said I don't know. It's not like I can go to gym without exposing myself as Danny Phantom." Danny replied.

"You know, you're going to get in big trouble for missing gym." Sam stated.

"Yeah, I know, but when am I _not_ in trouble for something. Besides, because of that fight with Dash, I don't think that anyone will be surprised if D.J. skips a few classes." Danny responded.

"I hope you're right." Sam prayed.

* * *

By the time that Danny got home, he was exhausted. He went upstairs and flopped onto his bed, momentarily forgetting his homework. A few seconds later, there was a soft knock on the door. 

"Come in." Danny moaned, still lying on his bed.

His red headed sister, Jazz, came through the door.

"Danny, I think we need to talk." She stated, walking over to his bed and sitting next to her younger brother.

"Can't I relax for a bit first? Trying to pull off three identities is very tiring." Danny questioned.

"Danny, I think that we need to talk, _now_." Jazz answered.

"Fine." Danny groaned. He pulled himself into a sitting position.

"I don't think that pulling three identities is very good for your mental health. Two is already too much, but _three_?" Jazz discussed.

"Like I don't know that already. I don't think that it's doing too much good for my physical health either. Duplicating is a lot of hard work." Danny added. "But I don't exactly have a choice."

"I hate to admit it, but you're right. Right now, you're going to have to pull off your three identities. I'll call Danny Fenton in sick tomorrow, since I can't call for D.J., so that you can have a break. I'll go talk to the government agency tomorrow after school to see if I can get them to take you out of school. Until then, you'll just have to hold up." Jazz planned.

"Thanks, Jazz. Although, going as D.J. isn't such a great idea, even though I probably need to so that I won't get an even worse reputation than I have. It's going to be pretty hard making sure that no one figures out that I'm actually Danny Phantom." Danny explained.

"It's going to have to do for now." Jazz concluded. With that, she walked to the door. "But if anyone can make it through this, it's you." With those last words, Jazz slipped out of the room.

Danny sighed and slumped back onto his bed. Tomorrow was _not_ going to be fun.

* * *

**You know the drill. Review Please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry, but this is another one of my rushed chapters. Hope you enjoy it anyways!**

**Disclaimer: I do not, by any means, own Danny Phantom.**

* * *

Danny walked to school with Sam and Tucker the next morning.

"Dude, why are you dressed as D.J.?" Tucker inquired.

"Jazz is calling Danny _Fenton_ in sick so that I can get a break from the triple identities." Danny explained.

"Wouldn't it be _easier_ to go to school as Danny _Fenton_?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, but Jazz can't exactly call D.J. in sick." Danny responded.

"Is it just me, or does anyone else have a feeling that this day is going to end badly?" Sam asked.

Danny and Tucker glanced at each other before turning back to her. "Probably." The boys replied in unison.

Just then, a visible mist poured out of Danny's mouth, alerting him that a ghost was nearby.

"I'll be right back." Danny groaned.

Danny ran into the nearest alley and phased out of his extra clothes and replaced his white gloves. Then, he shot up into the sky.

"_Now_ I'm here to hunt you." A deep voice echoed from behind the teenage ghost.

Danny spun around to face his robotic foe; Skulker.

"I don't have time for this." Danny muttered, sending ghost rays at Skulker.

"Which is why it's a perfect time." Skulker added with an evil grin.

Skulker shot out a round of dart-like things from two cannons that appeared on his shoulders. Danny dodged all but one, which gave him a scrape on his arm. Danny ignored it and fired icy stakes at Skulker. The shards pierced his armor and rendered several of his weapons useless. While his opponent was still in shock, Danny blasted off one of the ghost's mechanical wings. In a stream of smoke, Skulker fell to the ground, twirling in the air. Danny took this opportunity to suck the ghost into the Fenton Thermos.

A few minutes later, 'D.J.' was continuing his walk with Sam and Tucker. Sam looked curiously at his sweatshirt sleeve.

"Uh, Danny, why is your sleeve covered in ectoplasm?" Sam interrogated.

Danny looked down at his arm to see the green substance seeping through.

"Must have happened when Skulker fired at me." Danny answered.

"You'd better go wash that out before anyone notices." Tucker suggested.

Sam grabbed something out of her bag. It was a roll of bandaging. She handed it to Danny. "Here, you'll need to make sure that it doesn't seep through again. I've been keeping this stuff with me lately." Sam stated.

"Thanks." Danny accepted.

* * *

Two classes and a cleaned smudge later, Danny visited his locker, alone. 

"Hey, D.J." A feminine voice greeted.

Danny turned around to look at Valerie Gray. The boy waved, not chancing her recognizing his voice.

"I was wondering if you'd like to sit with me at lunch. You know, so we could get to know each other a little better." Valerie invited.

"Busy." Danny muttered. He was sure to make sure that his ghostly voice didn't come through too much.

"Oh, okay. Well, what class do you have next?" Valerie pestered.

Danny grabbed his English book and showed it to her.

"English? Me too. You wanna sit next to each other?" Valerie continued.

"Can't. Sitting with Sam and Tucker." He replied quietly and briefly.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" She pressed.

Danny shook his head.

Valerie sighed. "You're not going to tell me much, are you?"

Danny shook his head again. Half of him wanted to tell Valerie that he was Phantom, but the other half told him that the time wasn't right yet. He listened to that half. He'd tell her eventually, just, not right now. Danny took off down the hall.

"There's something weird about that kid and I'm gonna find out." Valerie murmured to herself with determination.

Danny was almost to his class when an announcement blared over the P.A. system.

"Will Daniel Parker please report to Principal Ishiyama's office? That's Daniel Parker to the office." The woman's bored tone echoed.

Danny sighed and slumped off to the office for the second time in two days. He wasn't making a very good record for himself. Danny once again opened the door and shuffled inside.

"I think that you know where to go." The lady at the front desk said. This kid was here for only two days and already he had been stirring up a whole mess of trouble.

Danny marched off tiredly to another room. Inside, the principal was waiting for him. She looked cross.

"Daniel, sit down." She ordered.

"My name is D.J." He corrected.

"D.J., why were you not at gym yesterday?" The woman questioned.

"Because I had to take care of something." He lied.

"Like?" Prodded the principal.

"Like it's none of your business." Danny snapped.

The woman sighed. "When it comes to academic matters, it _is_ my business." She argued.

"When it comes to my _life_, it isn't." Danny protested.

"Daniel…"

"I'm just going to stop correcting you about calling me D.J. since it seems like you never will." Danny interrupted rudely.

"Don't talk back." She ordered crossly. "That is **no** way to talk to your principal."

"Sorry." Danny muttered reluctantly.

"As I was saying, this sounds like something for a therapist or a councilor. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get a new one since our last one disappeared." The principal restarted. Danny smirked at the last sentence. "For now, you have detention after school. Skip it and I will personally invite your parents over here."

Suddenly, an idea crossed the young ghost's mind. A small, unnoticed smirk played on his lips.

"Just as a warning, how much would it take to be expelled?" Danny questioned as innocently as he could. "Just so I know what _not_ to do."

"Well, Mr. Parker, you'd have to continuously break rules and commit a feat that was immensely inappropriate." She explained.

"Thanks for the heads up." Danny said, attempting to hide the mischievous tone in his voice.

Danny walked out of the office with a devious expression on his face. Hello, new plan. If he could get himself expelled, the he wouldn't be allowed to come to Casper. Now all he had to do was be so bad that she _had_ to expel him.

* * *

D.J. walked to lunch. He had grabbed his tray and taken a seat across from his friends. 

"You can't be serious?!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh, I am." Danny replied with hints of mischief.

"Well, how are you gonna do that?" Tucker questioned.

"All I have to do is break as many rules as possible." Danny responded.

"This is a recipe for disaster." Sam mused.

"Well, it's the only way that I'll be able to get out of this nightmare." Danny replied coolly.

"Sam, just drop it." Tucker commanded her. "Danny's already made up his mind. Besides, we have bigger things to worry about."

"Yeah, Tuck's right. Valerie's getting suspicious. I think I should tell her. She might be able to help." Danny proposed.

"Danny, I don't think…" Sam started.

"Sam, I know that you don't like Valerie, but she and Phantom have a truce. All I'm going to tell her is that D.J. and Phantom are the same. I really think that she could help." Danny clarified.

Sam sighed. "There's no making up your mind now, is there?"

"Nope."

"Good, because here she comes." Tucker whispered harshly.

Danny turned around to see the dark-skinned girl approaching them. Danny stood up and walked over to her.

"Oh, hi. I was just wondering…" Valerie began.

"Valerie, we need to talk."

* * *

**Move your cursor down a few inches, go the far left. Good. Now click the little periwinkle button. In other words: Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took me so long. To make up for it, I made this chapter longer.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantm in any way.**

* * *

"Um, okay." Valerie replied in confusion. Was this the same kid who had earlier said that he _wasn't_ going to talk to her?

"In private." He added.

The strange boy led her away from the crowd outside and onto another side of the school. He looked around, searching for something. After a few moments of scanning, he seemed satisfied and turned his attention back to her.

"What's this all about?" Valerie questioned.

"I'm going to tell you something, but you have to _promise_ not to tell anyone else." Danny urged.

"Why would you trust _me_? You've only known me for a few hours." Valerie inquired.

"Actually, I've known you for longer than you think…Red Huntress." Danny hinted.

Valerie looked shocked, then, she seemed to catch on. "Danny Phantom?"

Danny did a quick scan of the area before pulling down his hood and removing the sunglasses. "Yeah, Val, it's me." Danny responded.

"How…what…why…" She stammered.

Danny quickly replaced his sunglasses and hood.

"Listen, Vlad _Masters_ forced me to come here." Danny started, but Valerie cut him off.

"Want revenge on you for stopping him from melting Danielle?" Valerie questioned.

Danny looked slightly shocked. What did she know? Vlad was _Plasmius_ then.

"Yeah, I know." She confirmed, responding to the look on his face.

"Okay, fine, you know about Vlad. Anyway, that's not what I want to talk to you about." Danny tried to redirect their conversation.

"Okay, then what?"

"I can't pull off D.J. _and_ Danny Phantom, so I made a plan to get me out of here that I think could work."

"I'm listening."

"All I need to do is get myself expelled." Danny began.

"And you need help doing that without doing something completely horrible." Valerie finished.

"Please?" Danny begged.

"It would be my pleasure." She replied deviously.

* * *

The next morning, Danny Fenton walked through the halls with Sam and Tucker. 

"Are you _seriously_ going to go through with this?" Sam asked for the millionth time.

"For the last time, yes!" Danny answered.

"So, what are you going to do first?" Tucker questioned.

"Valerie said that I should start with not handing in _any_ homework. She said that getting on the principal's bad side would be a good start." Danny replied.

"Doesn't that mean that you have to be D.J. in _all_ your classes?" Tucker pointed out.

"No. Skipping will work too." Danny answered. "I'll be right back, guys. I have to pull of the duplication thing for the first class. That way, they won't just assume that I'm absent."

Danny repeated his usual routine, which you all hopefully know by now so there is no point in me writing it down again. Once he finished, Danny and D.J. rushed back to their friends. The group of four walked to their class. D.J. spotted Valerie on the way. She winked at him. He slid down his sunglasses enough to reveal him winking back with his bright green eyes. Then, he pulled the shades back up and rested them in their usual spot.

After everyone was seated, Lancer came around to collect the homework. He stopped when D.J. didn't have anything on his desk.

"Mr. Parker, where is your homework?" The teacher questioned.

"I forgot to do it." Danny replied.

"Detention." Lancer told him.

As soon as Lancer took his eyes off of Danny, the ghost boy turned to Valerie who was giving him a small smile, signaling that he did his job correctly. Meanwhile, Sam looked slightly angry. One guess why.

* * *

"Okay, Val, what's next?" Danny questioned. 

They were in the hallway, Sam and Tucker not too far behind, just in case. The trouble-making twosome were discussing plans on how to get Danny expelled.

"Let's see, you've haven't handed in any assignments so far, skipped two classes, and…" Valerie trailed off, trying to remember anything else.

"…and that's about it." Danny finished for her.

"Well, lunch is next. That has plenty of opportunity." Valerie notified.

"Yeah, but I can't do anything _really_ bad." Danny reminded her.

"Why? No one will know it was you?" Valerie questioned.

"Because...I just…_can't_." Danny replied.

"You know, Phantom…er….Danny, I don't understand you sometimes." Valerie stated.

"Most people don't." Danny responded.

"Anyway, what if you pulled the fire alarm? (**One**** of the suggestions of mutantlover09**) Would your conscience let you do that?" Valerie suggested, with a teasing tone on the last sentence.

Danny didn't seem amused by the joke. "Actually, I think it's his hero complex." Tucker stepped in.

"I think that it's both." Sam added.

Danny grew impatient with the joking conversation and crossed his arms. "If you guys are done making fun of me, I think that I could pull the fire alarm." Danny snapped.

"Sorry." Valerie apologized. Although, he _was_ kinda fun to tease.

"So, when should I pull it?" Danny inquired.

"As soon as everyone is outside." The ghost hunter replied.

"Which is right now." Sam added.

"You guys go outside so you don't get any of the blame." Danny ordered.

"Okay, just make sure that you are caught." Valerie reminded him.

Danny nodded and then ran for the lever. He took one last look at where Sam, Tucker, and Valerie had left, making sure that they were gone, before taking a deep breath.

"Here goes nothing." He said to himself.

Danny pulled the lever down. The blaring sirens came on as well as the sprinklers. The water showered over his head. Danny walked a few feet away from the alarm, trying to make it look like he didn't want to be caught. He made sure to walk slow enough so that it would be obvious that _he_ did it. Suddenly, the sprinklers stopped. Danny was a short distance away when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

"And _where_ do you think _you're_ going, Mr. Parker?" Mr. Lancer questioned.

Danny turned around. "Lunch?" Danny responded.

"Principal's office, now." The overweight teacher ordered.

Danny pretended to sulkily walk off, but Lancer didn't notice the satisfied smile on the teen's face. The ghost boy walked down the familiar path to the principal's office and opened the door. Danny made his way to his Principal Ishiyama's section. He knocked.

"Come in." A voice from the other side invited.

'D.J.' opened the door and closed it behind him. His clothes were drenched and the water dripped onto the carpet.

"Mr. Parker, you are certainly becoming a familiar face around here. Too familiar." The woman commented sourly. "Now, care to tell me _why_ you are in here?"

"I pulled the fire alarm." Danny admitted, faking a remorseful tone.

"Now, _why_ would you do that?" Principal Ishiyama asked.

"For the kicks?" Danny offered.

"You leave me no choice. I'm going to have to call your parents. If your behavior does **not** improve, I **will** suspend you." She warned.

Principal Ishiyama took out a file and seemed to search for something. Then, she picked up the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello, is this Daniel Parker's parent or guardian I am speaking to?" She questioned politely. "I will need you to come down to my office right away." "Yes, I'm afraid that Daniel _is_ in trouble. We will discuss this matter further when you arrive. Goodbye."

"Your parent, although she did not put her name here, will be here shortly." The woman reported.

Danny grew slightly fidgety. Was that Sam's grandmother? Who else would be written in as Danny's legal guardian?

As Danny was thinking, the principal was flipping through his records, trying to pick out anything that might help her understand this kid better.

"I have also heard complaints from teachers about you not doing your homework and constantly skipping class." She stated. Danny snapped out of his thoughts and began to pay attention. "You have _also_ been caught fighting with another student, skipping detention, and now _this_? Daniel, if you are _trying_ to break the school's record for most troublesome student, you are doing a great job of it. When your mother gets here…" She trailed off as a knock sounded on the door. "That should be her."

The angry principal walked over to the door and opened it. Outside, was a short, old lady on a motor scooter.

"Oh, why hello." The principal greeted in shock.

"Hello." Sam's grandma greeted politely, rolling inside.

The principal closed the door and took her seat.

"Excuse me, but are you Daniel's grandmother?" Principal Ishiyama questioned.

"I am his adoptive grandmother, yes." The old woman replied.

Danny was a little weirded out by how well Sam's grandma was at acting. Also, it felt kind of strange when she said that.

"Oh." The younger woman commented, feeling bad for the boy. Was he this way because he was adopted? She had heard that that could happen to a kid. He was probably a troubled teen. However, school rules were school rules; no exceptions. "I would just like to report that Daniel has racked up quite a record. He has been reported to have not passed in homework, skipped detention _and_ class numerous times, gotten into a fight with another student, and recently; purposefully pulled the fire alarm."

"I'll be sure to talk with him about that." Sam's grandma assured with a serious face.

Danny was overly confused. He couldn't think straight. This was too weird! He didn't even register that the principal had left for a few moments so that Danny's guardian could give him a good talking to. His mind was far away until he heard the old woman talking to him. His head snapped back into focus.

"Trying to get expelled, huh?" Sam's grandma asked.

Danny's jaw dropped. "Sam wasn't lying when she said you were scary good at this kind of stuff." Danny stated.

The old woman just smiled triumphantly. "If you're _trying_ to get expelled, you're going to have to do better than that. It should be easy with those powers of yours."

"Why does no one get that I ?! I can't do anything really bad!" Danny told her. "Besides, I have someone helping me to get expelled. At this rate, I should be out of here by next week."

"Have it your way." She finished before strolling out of the room.

"Okay, now I'm _really_ confused." Danny thought to himself.

* * *

**How was that? Do you forgive me now? (Puts on sad puppy-dog face).**

**Review Please!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yay, next chapter. I assure you, this one will leave you in...shock.**

**Disclaimer: Why do we have to keep writing these thing? Fo rhte last time; I don't own DP!**

**As a quick note, if this chapter seems a little screwed with the spacing or anything, it's the document uploader's fault. Not mine. I have already tried fixing the whole thing TWICE! And this is a very long chapter.**

* * *

After his little meeting, Danny headed off to the bathroom to create his duplicate again. After he was done, he gathered his books and headed to his next class. The Dannys took their usual seats. Soon enough, Sam, Tucker, and, now, Valerie joined them.

"How did it go?" Valerie whispered, leaning over.

"She still hasn't made any threats of expulsion, but I think I'm getting close." Danny explained.

Valerie nodded and shifted back into her seat. Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off. He gasped. His covered eyes searched frantically for the ghost, as did his double's.

"Mr. Parker, Mr. Fenton, is there a problem?" Lancer questioned, eyeing the two panicked teens.

"Uh, can I go get a drink/use the bathroom?" They both questioned. It was impossible to tell which one asked which question.

"Um, yes, I suppose." Lancer replied in his moment of confusion. They sounded alike!

The two practically jumped out of their seats and ran for the door, closing it quickly behind them. Everyone stared at them in puzzlement. Those two were **weird**.

Danny formed together and shed his disguise in the empty halls. Unfortunately, the only voice that met him was the annoyingly familiar and frequent sound of…

"I am the Box Ghost! BEWARE!" The little blue ghost shouted.

"Are you kidding me? I rushed out here in the middle of class so that I could fight _you_?" Danny moaned.

"You underestimate the power of corrugated cardboard too much! For it is boxes that will be your demise! You shall rue the day that you-Ahhh!" The ghost lectured, but was cut off when he was hit with a small, green ghost ray.

"Any more and you'll replace Technus as the Master of Long-Winded Speeches." Danny stated.

With that, Danny sucked the Box Ghost into the Fenton Thermos. The teen landed on the floor. He'd still be able to make most of the rest of class. He quickly re-duplicated himself and slipped his disguise back on. With that done, he walked back into the classroom, his duplicate coming in a few moments after. The Dannys resumed their seats and listened for the lesson. No one was talking and the occupants of the room were staring at him-or, really, 'D.J.'

"What?" He asked in curiosity and irritation.

Finally, Valerie leaned over and whispered to him. "Look at your arm."

"Huh?" Danny inquired as his gaze drifted over to his arm where the ghostly green blood known as ectoplasm was gathering on his sleeve, having seeped through the bandaging. He thought that the cut had been gone, but he should know; Skulker's weapons usually leave long-lasting marks. It probably opened up somehow. "Um, can I go wash…whatever this is…off my sleeve?" D.J. questioned as calmly as he could. He had to stop himself when he almost said 'ectoplasm.'

"Yes, I suggest you do that." Lancer replied.

Many eyes followed the teen as he exited the room. Did they even _want_ to know what that green stuff was? And why it seemed to have an eerie green color to it as well as a ghostly feel? Luckily, everyone was too caught up in their own thoughts to notice that Danny _Fenton_ had suddenly disappeared.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Valerie asked after class had ended and the five of them (D.J., Danny, Valerie, Sam, and Tucker) walked out of the classroom.

"I got cut from Skulker yesterday and it must have opened back up and the ectoplasm seeped through the bandaging." Danny explained.

"No offence, but that was _gross_." Valerie commented.

"No offence taken, it's still a little gross even for _me_." Danny responded. "Seriously, having your blood suddenly switch to some green goop is not exactly a pleasant experience."

Valerie cringed mentally at the thought.

"So, what are you going to do next?" Sam questioned.

"I was thinking that _'D.J.'_ over here could pull a few pranks on Mr. Lancer." Valerie suggested.

"What kind of pranks?" D.J. asked warily.

"Oh, you know, just the harmless stuff. Nothing too bad. Hey, maybe you could seal his desk shut with one of the ecto-ghost-beam-thingies." Valerie responded.

"First off, it's called a ghost ray. Second, I guess that I _could_. I mean, that's not so bad. It's just that I don't really like to use my powers against humans too much, unless they did something to me first and even then I don't actually _hurt_ them." Danny mused.

"Are you done talking to yourself?" Tucker teased.

"Seriously, this is about the _millionth_ time I've heard you talking to yourself. Don't you ever just think silently?" Sam added.

"Alright already, I get it. You guys stay put. I'll be back in a flash." Danny ordered. Hopefully, he'd still be able to hold his duplicate.

Danny invisibly flew into the classroom. Lancer wasn't there. Good. The ghost boy flew to the teacher's desk and fired a small ghost ray around the cracks of the draws, welding them shut. He also went and vaporized the pile of homework sitting on the educator's desk. Lastly, he went up to the board and wrote "No Homework!"

"This is going to get Lancer _so_ ticked." Danny thought to himself. Quickly and quietly he invisibly flew back to his friends and made sure that no one was around before gaining visibility once more.

"What did you do?" Sam inquired.

"You'll find out soon enough." Danny responded as the teacher returned to the classroom.

"_Anne of Green Gables_!" Shuffling and banging was heard from inside the classroom. "**Daniel Parker**!"

"That's my cue." Danny stated somewhat triumphantly.

As soon as Danny walked into the room, the four others, including Danny's duplicate, followed. They peered from behind the edge of the open door. The only thing that seemed out of place was the message on the board and the lack of papers on Lancer's desk.

"Mr. Parker, would you care to explain to me _why_ you threw out the homework, stuck my draws shut, and wrote that on the board?" Lancer interrogated sternly.

"Be-cause…I was bored?" Danny attempted.

"There is **no** excuse for destroying a classroom! _Especially_ not because you were **bored**!" The infuriated man boomed.

"Technically, I didn't _destroy_ the classroom." Danny corrected.

"Well, because of your actions, I am going to recommend that you get suspended and if this keeps up; **expelled**." Lancer told him. "I figure that it will do no good to send you to the principal's office _again_, but I will let you know that I be making a call. I suggest that you break this troublemaking habit of yours. If not, you can say goodbye to Caper High and possibly many other schools as well as your chances of having any college accept you. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly." D.J. replied with a satisfied smirk.

Danny walked out of the door. His friends were all waiting with excited smiles.

"He said expelled!" Tucker stated happily.

"Awesome!" Sam cheered.

"Thank you so much, Valerie!" Danny thanked. He was pretty cheery too.

"No problem! Now it's only a matter of time before you can get out of here!" Valerie replied just as excitedly as the rest of them.

A loud bell rung though the halls and signaled the start of class.

"Well, we'd better go." Sam suggested.

"I think that I'll skip." D.J. replied. He was _way_ too tired from holding his duplicate for that long. He needed to recharge.

"Okay, see you later." Tucker dismissed.

"Yeah, see ya!" Danny responded before rushing around the corner and sucking up his duplicate that the other three, well, at least not Valerie, had noticed had gone missing. He changed back into his human self and took a deep breath of exhaustion. Then, he ran around the corner and rushed into his classroom.

* * *

After class had ended, Danny turned into D.J. in the bathroom. He was about to run off to meet his friends when a large, strong hand grasped his shoulder. 

"Hey, freak, where do you think you're going?" Dash Baxter asked as Danny turned around.

"Leave me alone, Dash." Danny requested in an unusually calm tone.

"No way. I want a rematch." Dash demanded.

"Forget it, Dash. I'm not going to fight you." Danny responded.

"I'm gonna wail on you whether you fight back or not." Dash stated.

With that, Dash thrusted Danny against the lockers. Dash wound up his fist, but Danny slipped out of his grasp and the larger boy ended up hitting the metal of the lockers. Danny swiftly moved behind Dash. The larger boy twirled around.

"I thought you said you weren't going to fight back." Dash said pointedly.

"This isn't fighting back." Danny told the bully.

Dash made another attempt to nail Danny. Danny just ducked quickly and avoided the hit. Dash's face was growing red with anger. Furiously, the jock flailed his fists in all directions, desperately trying to nail the smaller boy that kept dodging him. At last, Dash began to tire. He stopped thrashing his arms around and slumped over in exhaustion, panting heavily. Danny walked up until he was two feet away. Dash looked up for a moment before collapsing onto the tiled ground. The audience stared in amazement. Then, something very unexpected happened. D.J. reached his hand down to Dash.

"Need a hand?" He offered kindly.

The onlookers were surprised to say the least. Usually, the winner casts one last rude remark before walking away. D.J. actually offered to help the loser up.

The football star glanced up at the hand. "What?!" He asked in shock.

"I said; need a hand?" Danny reoffered.

"You're not mad?" Dash questioned.

"I don't like it that you tried to bully me, or anyone else for that matter, but I'm not a bad person and I'm willing to forgive." Danny responded. His conscience/hero complex had gotten the best of him. This was _definitely_ not going to help him get expelled.

Okay, this kid was officially weird. First, he walks around in that ridiculous outfit, then he beats Dash, causes tons of trouble, then he beats Dash again without even coming into contact with the bully, and lastly, he offered help and forgiveness to the loser of the battle who was trying to waste him a few moments ago. Of course, Dash didn't think that way. This punk trashed his reputation. The jock was willing to play dirty.

Dash grabbed the boy's outstretched hand and pulled him roughly onto the ground. The blonde boy then stood up quickly and towered above D.J.

"Sucker." Dash taunted.

Danny pulled himself to his feet with amazing reflexes. Dash quickly smashed the boy into the lockers behind him before grabbing his shirt and hoisting him in the air. Danny quickly gained back his senses. Danny felt like killing the jock right then, but decided against the violence. He was _not_ going to hurt a human.

"What's with the costume, freak? Afraid to show your face?" Dash mocked.

"Let go, Dash." Danny ordered.

"Maybe we should show everyone your _real_ face."

"I said; let go!"

"Dash, stop!" Sam commanded.

"Back off, you jerk!" Valerie reinforced.

But they were too late. Dash grabbed the black hood and tugged.

* * *

**Dun, dun, DUN! You guys know the drill.**


	8. Chapter 8

**You know, you guys are lucky that I updated today. chaces were that I wouldn't even finish writing this chapter until tomorrow or later. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: This is going to be a long story, so this is the last time I'm writing this. I do not own _Danny Phantom_ in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

As the bully tugged, Danny's black hood and sunglasses fell away. White hair and blazing green eyes showed. Dash's face, as well as the crowd's, turned into ones of shock. Gasps echoed all around. The jock dropped the ghost boy and backed away quickly. He'd just tried to beat up _Danny Phantom_! Danny frantically searched the crowds and watched the stunned faces with wide-eyes. The adolescents didn't know whether to back away or come closer. Danny would have flown away if it weren't for the fact that he was frozen with anxiety. After an awkward pause, the teens began to burst out into murmurs. A few strayed forward a couple of feet. Before anyone could get more than two feet within Danny; Sam, Tucker, and Valerie jumped in front of him, forming a small shield around the petrified ghost teen.

"Back off, would you?!" Sam shouted to the crowd.

The mob backed away slowly. Manson wasn't someone that you wanted to mess with. Although, another person you wouldn't want to get in trouble with came by.

"What's going on?!" A woman's voice boomed. Uh, oh. It was the principal. Mr. Lancer stood beside the authority-holding woman. The male educator had his hands on his hips in irritation.

Everyone's head jerked in the adult's direction. Even Danny snapped his head over there. Danny's brain screamed at him to turn invisible, but somehow, he couldn't. The situation all seemed so surreal and it was like the events were passing by in slow motion. None of the students answered the adult's question. The adults began to shove their way roughly through the crowds of students.

One stunned student squeaked out a single sentence. "D.J. is…D-Danny Ph…Phantom." He stuttered.

"_Three __Musketeers_, what in the world are you talking about? D.J. is Danny Phantom?! Move out of the way!" Lancer demanded.

A small opening formed in the crowd and the adults walked down the cleared path.

"Danny, turn invisible, now!" Sam demanded.

"I…I can't." Danny stammered.

"What do you mean you _can't_?" The Goth girl hissed.

"I'm trying, but I…I just…_can't_." Danny responded.

Principal Ishiyama and Mr. Lancer had now reached the center where the three human students were surrounding a petrified Danny.

"Now, what's all this talk about…?" Principal Ishiyama started, but stopped when she saw a bright-green-eyed, white-haired ghost boy dressed in dark, baggy clothing. He appeared stunned and three teenagers stood defensively around him. Namely; Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, and Valerie Gray.

Now, every set of eyes within viewing range were set on the paralyzed teen. Danny showed no change in expression and just stood there, staring in panic. His mind was completely frozen. Most of the citizens around him were in the same state. How could D.J. Parker be Danny Phantom? It would explain the strange outfit and a few other things, but…wow.

"Danny Phantom?" The principal asked in confusion.

"I...I…I can explain." Danny stammered.

The crowd was anxious to hear why the ghost kid was at _their_ school. Seriously, why would _anyone_ want to go to school?

The elders broke out of their confusion and shock. Danny, however, wasn't doing as great and his face brimmed with nervousness. Danny took their silence as a sign to continue.

"I was forced to come here by Vlad…" Danny was suddenly cut off.

"Vlad _Masters_? Mayor of Amity Park?" The principal questioned.

"Yeah. He doesn't like me very much. Anyway, he forced me to come here so I took up the alternate identity of D.J. Parker." Danny blurted.

"Why would you need an alternate identity?" Dash questioned, finally finding his voice.

"Are you serious?" Sam inquired disdainfully. "You people chase him for just walking around! You think he wanted that at school too?!"

That seemed to shut everyone up. A lot of them felt a little guilty considering that they had taken part in the chase as well.

"I'm guessing this kinda explains all of the skipped classes and homework." Danny assumed.

"Yes, it would, but w_hy_ did you pull the fire alarm then? And vaporize Mr. Lancer's homework assignments as well as seal his desk shut?" Principal Ishiyama questioned.

"I was…heh…trying to get expelled." Danny chuckled nervously, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck.

"Yeah, and he had to do it without doing anything…what was it again?" Valerie added.

"Purposefully destructive to property, potentially harmful, or completely morally wrong." Danny finished, counting fingers as he listed.

A few students almost wanted to laugh at how much of a goody-goody Phantom really was. Others thought that it was a great thing that he's so nice and wouldn't harm anything purposefully.

"Why were you trying to get expelled?" Lancer pitched in.

"Why do you people have to ask so many questions?" Danny snapped. Then, he sighed and calmed himself down a little. "Because I couldn't keep being both D.J. _and_ Danny Phantom. It is **way** too confusing and stressful." Danny replied. "But it's not like I had much of a choice."

"So, does this mean that you're leaving now?" Paulina asked sadly.

"I wish. If I know Vlad, he'll find _some _way to keep me here." Danny stated.

"Yeah, like threatening." Sam muttered, but everyone within ten feet of her heard it.

"Why was he so eager to get you here?" Principal Ishiyama interrogated.

"Because he likes ticking Danny off." Sam answered for him.

"Yeah, it's like, his favorite pass time." Tucker added.

"Okay, they get it!" Danny interrupted. "Long story short, Vlad is one seriously crazed up fruitloop." The ghost boy finished, crossing his arms.

Everyone around looked stunned. So Vlad Masters had a serious grudge against Danny Phantom.

"Ah, Daniel, lying _again_, are we?" A dark voice questioned.

Vlad Masters appeared in the halls. Everyone turned to look at the man.

"What do you want, Vlad? Haven't you already caused enough trouble?" Danny snapped.

"Trouble? I have no idea what you mean. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't miss out on a proper education or being an actual teenager all because of your…condition." Vlad said innocently.

Danny's eyes flared. This was just another one of Vlad's mind games. He was only trying to get everyone on his side. The audience just stared at the angered ghost kid. He looked ready to tear Vlad apart.

"Back off, fruitloop!" Danny demanded.

"Ah, there is that _lovely_ little nickname again." Vlad commented sarcastically.

"One you well deserve." Danny hissed.

"And there's that temper again." Vlad added in a mocking tone.

He was provoking Danny and Danny knew it. Vlad was trying to get Danny to attack him so that he could claim that the ghost boy was dangerous.

"I know what you're up to, Vlad. Stop it, now." Danny demanded.

"Whatever do you mean?" Vlad questioned innocently.

Danny hadn't even noticed that his hands had clenched into fists or that his hands had started glowing green with charging ecto-blasts. The ghost teen's eyes blazed with bright-green. A murderous look was placed on his young face.

"I said; STOP!" Danny shouted.

"Don't you see?" Vlad asked the audience. "Danny Phantom can't be trusted. He is ready to attack. Just look at his hands."

Everyone began gazing at Danny's glowing green hands. A small amount of smoke was coming off of them and they looked about ready to fire. The look on the ghost's face didn't doubt it either.

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**Not much of a cliffie, but I think the one from last chapter was enough for both of these. I hope that this was good enough. Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**You people are so lucky that I'm updating TWICE in the same night. So, hey, Dannyphantomfreeek, I kept my word!**

**Thanks to all who reviewed: Dannyphantomfreeek, PunkMichPhantom, truephan, Luiz4200, ghostanimal, cherryblossom51, mutantlover09, LiLIndianPrinzess, mazrad, babydragon11, danny-dani, FernClaw, New Ghost Girl. Also, thanks to all who have reviewed previous chapters and are just finished reviewing chapter 8!**

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"Back off, Vlad!" Sam suddenly shouted.

"After what you did to him, I'm surprised he _hasn't_ killed you yet!" Valerie shouted, much to Vlad's surprise, but he hid his shock.

"Yeah, you're just lucky that Danny would _never_ kill!" Tucker added angrily.

"I wouldn't doubt that. Just look at him." Vlad prodded.

Danny hadn't moved from his previous position. His hands still glowed and, his eyes still burned, and if anything changed, he looked **more** ready to land that man in the hospital.

The crowd inadvertently took several steps back. A large circle was formed around the ghost teen and Vlad.

"Go ahead, fire, Daniel. You'll only be proving my point." Vlad goaded.

"Don't do it, Danny! You're better than that!" Sam urged.

"Dude, he's just trying to get on your nerves!" Tucker shouted.

"I hate him as much as you do, but don't do this!" Valerie shouted.

The words seemed to sink into Danny's head and he lowered his fists, letting the charge die. His expression remained the same, though.

"Stay. Away. From. Me." Danny ordered angrily, teeth gritted.

"Or what?" The evil man challenged. "Are you going to shatter your reputation along with your morals just to obliterate someone who annoys you, hmmm?"

"**That's it**!" Danny shouted, lunging himself at the man.

Vlad was too slow to dodge and wasn't quite expecting the young boy to act so rashly. Danny had Vlad pinned to the floor and was punching like crazy. Vlad struggled underneath the teen. Eventually, Danny's three friends managed to pry him off Vlad and restrain him. Danny had not gone willingly though, he put up a fight, and a good one at that. Danny was still struggling in his friends' arms, momentarily forgetting about intangibility. His mind was clouded with rage.

"Let me go! Let me go so I can hurt him! He deserves it!" Danny shouted angrily.

The young ghost was putting up quite a fight and his friends were amazed at how strong he had gotten. The older half-ghost pulled himself to his feet and brushed himself off.

"See! This is what happens if Daniel loses his temper! He can't be trusted!" Vlad shouted.

Danny stopped struggling and the four teens glared angrily at the evil man.

"I suggest that you find someone who can contain him. Otherwise, you might be the next one that he attacks." Vlad warned.

The man turned to leave. He was walking until a small green beam hit him. The man yelped and whipped around. Danny stood there, held back by his friends, but was smirking. Vlad shot him a glare before stomping away.

"That felt **so** good." Danny admitted quietly.

"Is it safe to let you go now?" Sam asked.

"Now that Vlad's gone, yes." Danny replied, happy that Vlad was gone.

His friends released him and he straightened out his clothes that were ruffled from the fight.

"What the heck was that?!" Dash shouted, surprised by his idol's actions.

"Payback." Danny answered with a grin.

"Geez, he must have done a lot to you to make you _that_ mad." A student commented.

Tucker and Sam almost wanted to laugh. Heck yeah, Vlad had done a lot to Danny! Valerie also knew that Vlad had done some pretty bad things, especially trying to melt what looked like Danny Phantom's sister.

"If I listed everything it would take me all day." Danny commented sourly.

Danny was suddenly interrupted by a sharp pull on his arm. He was jerked backward and he turned his head to see Principal Ishiyama pulling him away.

"You and me are going to have a _serious_ talk about this." She told him sternly.

"Fine, but I can walk on my own." He snapped, indicating for her to let go of his arm and stop dragging him.

She reluctantly released his arm. He began walking behind her. She led him into her office where she sat down and motioned to a chair on the other side of her desk. Danny hesitantly took it.

"_Why_ did you **attack** Mayor Masters?" She interrogated. Being angry, she could understand, but _attacking_?!

"He deserved it." Danny pouted, crossing his arms.

"What makes you say he deserved it?" She continued as calmly as she could.

"Everything!" Danny shouted in response, throwing his arms in the air dramatically. "He's done so many horrible things to me and my family that _nothing_ will _ever_ make me forgive him!"

"You looked like you were going to _kill_ him." The woman stated.

"I'm not _that_ low. I'd never kill anyone, but I wouldn't mind giving him a one-way trip to the hospital." Danny admitted bitterly.

She sighed. "I don't think that I'm cut out for this job. I'm going to call our junior councilor." The woman informed him.

"Junior councilor?" Danny questioned.

"Yes, one of our students. She is extremely bright and has taken to advising some of our troubled students." She replied.

"I am not troubled!" Danny shouted in denial.

The principal quirked an eyebrow at him. She picked up her phone and dialed a number. She turned around and made sure that Danny couldn't hear. A few moments later, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." The principal permitted.

A girl with red hair, teal eyes, a black shirt, and teal pants and headband walked in.

"Danny?" She gasped catching sight of her younger brother in ghost mode.

"Jazz?" He inquired.

"Good, you two know each other. I assume that you heard of the incident, Ms. Fenton?" The principal questioned.

"Incident?" Danny's sister asked, glaring at her younger brother.

The ghost boy smiled innocently.

"Danny, what have you done now? And why do you have your hood down? Has everyone found out?" She questioned.

"I didn't do anything _bad_ and, yes, everyone has found out, no thanks to Dash." Danny replied resentfully.

"Ms. Fenton, we have the situation taped. If you would like to watch it…" Principal Ishiyama offered.

"Yes, please. I think that that would be a _very_ good idea." Jazz accepted.

The principal stuck the tape into a TV set. The tape played and the two girls watched it. Danny didn't need to see it a second time. Unfortunately, there was no sound, so Jazz couldn't hear what was being said. You could easily tell that Vlad was insulting Danny, though. When the tape finished, Jazz turned to Danny tiredly.

"What'd he say?" She questioned.

"That I was dangerous and should be locked up for life." Danny responded angrily.

"I can't believe that jerk!" Jazz huffed.

"I'm sorry, but that is not what we're discussing." Principal Ishiyama stated.

"I already know _why_ Danny would attack Vlad." Jazz admitted.

"But will that stop him from attacking again?" The woman questioned.

"I won't attack as long as he stays away from me." Danny assured.

"Jasmine, is there any way that you can get him to calm down and find a peaceful solution?" The principal requested.

"I'm sorry, but Danny's hatred toward Vlad is _beyond_ solving. I _know_ Danny; I've talked to him before, so trust me when I say that he has every right to be mad." The girl informed.

"I sure do! That fruitloop only wants to make me miserable!" Danny shouted.

"And he's not exaggerating." Jazz added. She leaned in close to the principal so that Danny couldn't hear what they were saying. "Danny's been kidnapped and tortured by Vlad and there's about a million other things that Vlad has done to him, although, there are a few that he doesn't talk much about." Jazz whispered.

"Jazz, the whole point of whispering **is** **to make sure that the person you're talking about can't hear everything you're saying**!" Danny reminded her.

"Danny, calm down!" Jazz ordered.

"I can't calm down!" Danny shouted back.

Jazz placed her hand on his tenderly. "Please?" she begged.

"It's not that easy." Danny mumbled, pulling his hand away so that he could fold his arms. He looked away from her, his eyes a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Can I talk to him alone for a moment?" Jazz requested.

The principal allowed it and walked out the door, leaving the teens alone.

"Danny…" Jazz started.

"Jazz, I almost wanted to _kill_ Vlad for a moment."

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**Please Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, I _finally _finished writing the new chapter. It's longer than most of the others and I took a long time to edit it like truephan (BTW, thanks) suggested. Well, enjoy!**

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"Jazz, I almost wanted to _kill_ Vlad for a moment. I've _never_ wanted to kill." Danny admitted in a tone that screamed sorrow and depression. He looked on the verge of tears.

"If I know one thing, it's that you'll _never_ kill. Don't worry, it's going to be alright." Jazz comforted, pulling her little brother into a hug.

He didn't struggle, he just let his sister comfort him. Danny held back his tears, he was too old for that. No, he wouldn't cry. Instead he gave into the hug. His sister began playing with his snow-white hair, her fingers moving through it soothingly. It was a habit she tended to have. It felt pretty relaxing, though. The warmth of the hug felt nice. At last, she pulled away.

"What would I do without you?" Danny asked.

"You'd be going insane." She replied jokingly, although it was probably true. "Now, let's go tell the principal that you won't be any more trouble. You're just going to have to do your best when Vlad comes around."

"Alright, but the minute he turns into Plasmius, he is going down!" Danny claimed.

Jazz giggled. _That's_ the Danny she knew.

The siblings walked out of the office where the principal was waiting.

"Well?" She asked.

"I won't attack Vlad again…unless I absolutely have to." Danny responded.

Jazz elbowed him.

"What? Only if I **have** to!" Danny argued.

"Define 'have to.'" The principal ordered.

"Hey, if he's holding an ecto-gun to my head, I'm not holding back." Danny defended, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Okay, _that's_ reasonable." Jazz agreed.

"Fine, but for now, we have to go over a few rules." The woman stated.

Danny groaned. _Of course_ there were rules!

"Rule number 1; no using your ghost powers against other students."

"Like I said, I can't use my powers for anything potentially harmful against the innocent." Danny confirmed.

"You can take that as a; he won't use his powers against other students." Jazz translated.

"Rule Number 2; you'll only be excused to fight ghosts."

As soon as she said that, Danny's ghost sense went off. He gasped with the sudden sensation. Talk about perfect timing!

"Okay, let's make this one of those moments." Danny said, once again phasing out of the extra clothes and slipping on his silvery-white gloves. Danny flew out of the building so that he could intercept the ghost before it came in and caused some real damage. Jazz ran out the door and to the window so that she could watch her little brother. The older woman followed the young red-head.

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Up in the sky, Danny was met with a vampire-like ghost. 

"I thought I told you to back off, Vlad!" Danny shouted angrily, his eyes blazing with hatred.

"That was a nice little stunt you pulled earlier, Daniel. I doubt that they will trust you _now_. After all, you just attacked an innocent human." Vlad told Danny in an annoyingly calm tone.

Danny rammed full force into Vlad. "Last time I checked, you weren't that innocent."

"Ah, yes, but they don't know that." Vlad mocked with a smirk.

Danny growled in frustration and sent rounds of ecto-blasts at Plasmius, which were all blocked by a pink ecto-shield.

"You're going to have to do better than that." Vlad teased.

"You have pushed me over the edge _one_ too many times, Plasmius. Now, it's time for payback!" Danny hissed.

The young ghost sent ice shards hurtling at his opponent. Vlad moved out of the way and dodged them. He turned to Danny.

"Ha!" he shouted, but his face fell when he noticed a rather large block of ice heading his way.

The block smashed into him and sent the older half-ghost tumbling to the ground. Vlad hit the ground hard, but leapt back onto his feet. Danny landed softly a few yards away from him. Vlad began walking murderously toward the young half-ghost.

"On more step and I'll unleash the ghostly wail." Danny warned venomously.

"You wouldn't dare." Vlad challenged.

"Try me." Danny retorted, arms folded obstinately.

Vlad began to move forward, defying the young half-ghost. Danny took a huge breath and released his powerful ghostly wail. The screaming echoed through the city as green sonic waves flew from the teen's mouth. Vlad was knocked back a good distance. The man smashed into a brick wall, hidden from prying eyes, and was forced to transform back into his human self. Danny finished up his ghostly wail and sank onto his hands and knees in exhaustion. Unfortunately, Vlad summoned up his strength and transformed back into his ghost self. He stomped up to the tired boy. Danny looked up, gasping for air. Vlad came up to him and backhanded the young ghost across the face. It was hard enough to send him stumbling a few feet to the side and land roughly on the ground.

"See what you have done now? You're weak and exhausted and I'm still strong. You don't stand a chance!" Vlad ridiculed.

Vlad gave the boy a hard kick to the side, sending Danny painfully rolling a few feet away. His body rotated over itself and he ended up having agonizingly to lift himself onto his elbows. He glared at his foe.

"_I'm not done yet_." Danny claimed.

Ice beams shot out of Danny's eyes and froze Vlad's feet to the spot. Danny rose to his feet; the only force powering him was his rage. He delivered a sharp punch to Vlad's jaw.

"Two can play at that game." Vlad stated after the force of the hit had subsided.

He blasted his feet free and quickly grabbed Danny by the front of his black jumpsuit. Plasmius hoisted Danny off of the ground and then flew upward until he was fifty feet above the ground. Vlad gave Danny a powerful, glowing pink, punch to the stomach. Danny screamed in pain as the burning sensation of the punch came into contact with his body. The charge crackled through the teen's entire body. A smirk formed on the older ghost's face as he watched and heard his captive scream in agony. When Vlad removed his hand from Danny's abdomen, the boy was limp with pain. Scorch marks and cuts covered the young ghost. His hair was messier than usual and his eyes were squeezed shut in pain. Danny let out short, sharp gasps. His body motionlessly hung in the man's powerful grasp.

"Well, I guess that my job is done." Vlad stated triumphantly.

He flung Danny's weak form away from him. The boy's beaten body came crashing into the ground outside of the school.

"Danny!" A female voice screamed in worry and terror.

Jazz ran out of the school to go help her fallen brother. He lay on the grass feebly. Several cuts that were oozing ectoplasm covered him. Bruises were scattered over his form and scratches covered his face as well as a few burn marks. His black and white jumpsuit was tattered as well. Overall, he looked like he had just walked out of a very brutal war. The girl rushed to his side and kneeled down. She shook his limp form.

"Danny, Danny, please wake up." She begged.

He gave no response. At that point, the principal had appeared at Jazz's side and began watching her most brilliant student attempting to wake the ghost boy. Jazz moved him gently so that his head rested on her lap. She stroked his messy hair.

"He really did a number on you this time." Jazz stated, scanning over her younger brother's injuries.

"Jasmine, how often does this happen?" The principal asked in shock.

"He usually doesn't get hurt _this_ bad, but ending up with a cut or two isn't unusual. It depends on how strong the ghost he's fighting is. Can you get some bandaging? I need to wrap up his cuts before they get infected or he bleeds to death." Jazz replied.

"How can he bleed to death? He's a ghost." The woman questioned.

"Please, he really needs help right now. And if you see Sam and Tucker, please tell them to come out here." Jazz begged.

The woman nodded and rushed into the school. After she had left, the girl felt a slight stirring in her lap.

"J-Jazz?" Danny questioned, opening his bright-green eyes slightly. They seemed slightly duller than usual, though.

"Danny, you're okay!" She exclaimed.

Danny tried to sit up, but Jazz stopped him.

"Danny, you're hurt really badly. The principal's getting some help." Jazz explained.

Danny suddenly gripped his stomach and doubled over in pain. A loud groan escaped his throat.

"Danny!" The voices of Sam, Tucker, and Valerie yelled.

The three rushed up to where Jazz and Danny were. Valerie had joined Sam and Tucker when she heard that her new friend had been hurt.

"What happened?!" Sam demanded.

"Vlad came. He hurt Danny really badly." The oldest of the group explained.

Jazz carefully set Danny back onto the grass so that he'd have more room to move. His arms gripped his abdomen tightly. His breath was shallow. The principal came running back with a few rolls of gauze. She handed them to Jazz. The second oldest of the group began wrapping the gauze around the bigger wounds.

"Should I call an ambulance?" She questioned.

The four teens looked down at their struggling friend.

"Call my parents. The doctors can't help with ghosts, but my parents can." Jazz replied.

The principal nodded and took out a cell-phone. She began dialing the Fentons. They were on speed dial (due to their son's recent problems and troublemaking habits).

"Danny, it's going to be okay. The Fentons are coming, they're going to help." Sam assured. Although, it seemed more like she was trying to assure herself.

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**Did you people seriously think that I was going to let Danny off with just 'we have some rules for you'? Review please!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Okay, I know it took me awhile, so just blame my school. I'm too exhaustred and lazy to write anymore. Anyway, enjoy!**

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Danny kept writhing. His head was throbbing and his body was aching terribly. That last punch had really done it. He wasn't sure if he could hold out much longer. It felt like his body was ready to give in and change back into his human form. Danny felt an almost unregistered touch as Sam placed her hand lightly on his shoulder. 

"Hang in there, dude." Tucker said, trying to ease his hurting friend.

"Danny, you're going to be okay." Valerie comforted.

Danny could barely hear them. The constant sting reverberated through his entire body. It was like a long-lasting shock from the Fenton Portal. Suddenly, a pang of pain shot through him and he couldn't help but release an agony-filled scream. Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie felt so horrible, having to hear their friend like this-well, for Jazz, it was her brother, but you get the point.

A roaring began to sound in the distance and it grew louder. In only moments, the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle pulled up. Maddie and Jack leaped out of the large vehicle and ran to the spot where everyone was gathered. The couple heard some screaming as well as various other signs that someone was being tortured.

"What happened?!" Maddie inquired as she reached the small circle.

"Danny was fighting a ghost and he got hurt **a lot**!" Jazz responded.

"Please Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, you _have_ to help him!" Sam begged.

Danny was a horrible sight to watch. He burst out into another shriek as a new wave of immense pain washed over him. His body was twitching wildly.

"Quick, hold him down! We need to put him out!" Maddie demanded.

Danny's friends did as they were told. Tucker and Valerie grabbed his legs while Jazz and Sam held his arms and shoulders. It was difficult to keep him still due to his constant convulsing. Maddie brought out a needle filled with a green liquid. She managed to roll up Danny's sleeve and sink it into his arm. After a few seconds, his painful movements stopped and his body became limp once again. Although, he gave into a short muscle-spasm, but then his body became motionless again.

"Help us load him into the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle." The woman in the blue-hazmat suit commanded.

The six of them lifted Danny's comatose body and heaved it into the back seat of the RV-like vehicle.

"Principal Ishiyama, is it okay if Jazz, Sam, Tucker, and…" Maddie started.

"Valerie." Valerie answered.

"And Valerie come with us?" Maddie finished. "We might need help."

"Of course." The woman responded.

With that, the ghost hunters as well as the four teenagers ran to the vehicle and loaded themselves in quickly. Once they were all in-quite snugly, I might add-Jack drove off. Tucker and Valerie were in the two middle seats while Sam and Jazz took the back ones with Danny. Danny's feet hung into the extra seat while his head rested on Sam and his back on his older sister. They were responsible for securing him. Jack's driving was dangerous and the whole inside of the car shook. The only upside to this was that they got there three times as fast.

The Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle jerked to a stop outside of the massive brick building known as Fenton Works. The large neon sign confirmed that. The passengers filed out of the car, the four teens carrying Danny's weakened form with them. He still looked like a mess even with the gauze, which some of his ectoplasm was beginning to seep through.

"Okay, kids, this way." Jack led, holding open the front door.

The mini-procession headed inside. They were directed down the stairs and into the basement, which was actually the lab. They were told to put Danny down on the metal examination table. Other than the occasional muscle spasm, Danny remained quite still.

"What are we gonna do?" Tucker asked, desperately wanting to help his buddy.

"We should probably take care of the cuts first." Maddie responded. "It looks like the old bandaging needs to be changed."

Sure enough, the wrappings had little green splotches all over them. Jazz quickly obeyed, taking off all of the old coverings as carefully as she could.

"You need to tell us _exactly_ what happened." Maddie ordered.

"Jazz was the only one who saw what happened. We didn't come out until he was on the ground." Sam responded.

Maddie shifted her gaze to Jazz. The girl stopped removing the old gauze, letting Sam, Tucker, and Valerie pick up on it.

"Well, Danny was fighting Vl-The Wisconsin ghost, but Danny calls him Plasmius. They were talking for a little bit until Danny seemed to get really mad and started fighting Plasmius. After a while, though, Plasmius started winning, but then he flew him and Danny up so high that I couldn't completely see what was happening. Next thing I know, Danny is crashing down to the ground." Jazz alliterated.

The two older ghost hunters cast a glance at the boy lying on the table. The three other teenagers had just finished removing the old bandaging. Sam was now cleaning up the cuts so that they could put new wrappings on. The Goth girl was currently working on a wound on his shoulder. The sight of the ghost boy being so trashed was terrible! Especially with the ectoplasm oozing out of several of the cuts.

Tucker and Valerie walked over to the three member group.

"We've bandaged up most of the wounds, but what are we supposed to do next? We haven't even gotten a completely solid story on exactly what happened. Danny's the only one who knows what happened while he was up there." Valerie reported. "Well, him and that other ghost."

"Knowing Plasmius, it can't be good. He's _never_ hurt Danny that much before!" Tucker exclaimed.

They were suddenly interrupted by Sam, who was still working on Danny.

"Um, guys? I think you should see this." Sam noted, her voice quavering.

The other five snapped their heads around to see what she was talking about and why her voice sounded so worried. They gasped in shock and disgust at what they saw. Sam was holding up the bottom half of Danny's shirt-section on his jumpsuit and there was a **huge** burn marking on his abdomen. There were tints of green surrounding it and it appeared quite gruesome. They dashed over to the table to examine the injury closer.

"What the heck is that?!" Tucker shouted in alarm.

"It looks like a burn." Jazz noted. "And a **bad** one at that."

"I think that Vla-Plasmius-must have shot Danny with a really strong ghost ray." Sam observed.

The darkly-dressed teen grabbed some burn lotion and began rubbing it on the mark. It was _really_ gross having to do this, but if it helped her friend, then so be it. After she finished, she carefully wrapped the large burn up as well. She pulled the hem of his top back down. Only seconds after, a deep groan echoed in his throat.

Danny's eyes opened half-way. He only saw blurry figures. His entire body ached, most of all his stomach. His head throbbed and there were slight amounts of pressure throughout his body. His brain was barely registering all of the information it was taking in. It all felt so confusing. What was going on?

"Danny?" A girl's voice questioned in a soft and fretful tone.

"Sam?" He muttered, his voice barely a whisper. His throat was extremely dry and sore. It stung to talk.

"How are you feeling?" She questioned.

"Not so good." Danny managed to say.

"Danny, you _have_ to tell us what Plasmius did to you." Sam urged.

"I remember being dragged up high and them being hit in the stomach with a charged punch. Then I saw Jazz and everything hurt and…ugh." Danny groaned in pain, clutching his sore abdomen. "Sam, what's happening?" Danny asked in his weak and desperate voice.

"Listen carefully and stay calm. After Jazz saw you, she called us and we called the Fentons. You're in their lab right now and you're hurt really badly. Do you understand?" Sam responded in a calm and gentle voice.

Danny nodded feebly. It was all he really could do. Normally, this news would have alarmed him more, but his mind wasn't functioning properly right now.

Finally, he managed to gasp out "Sam?"

"Yeah, Danny?" She replied with concern heavy in her tender voice.

"I don't think that I can hang on for much longer."

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**Ha, ha! I left another cliffhanger!**

**No, this doesn't mean Danny will die. It means that he doesn't think that he can hold on much longer before turning back into his human self. Just thought that I'd clarify that.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi! I actually got to update today! Yay!**

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"I don't think that I can hang on for much longer." Danny gasped out. 

The whole group appeared stunned as Danny spoke those words.

"What does he mean he can't hang on for much longer?!" Jack exclaimed.

"He…he…he's dying!" Maddie shouted out, panic, worry, and concern mingling in her motherly voice.

"No! He _can't_ die!" Valerie screamed sorrowfully.

"Guys, guys, be quiet! Danny's _not _going to die!" Sam yelled.

"But he just said…" Valerie started in a panic.

"No. He's _not_ going to die." Sam confirmed, although to everyone else, it just seemed like she was in denial. The Goth girl quickly went over to Danny and whispered into his ear. "Danny, try to hold on tight, but if you can't; then just know that they will accept you no matter what."

Danny gave a weak nod, signaling that he understood.

"Mrs. Fenton, is there anything else that we could do?" Sam questioned.

"I don't think so. We just have to wait and hope for the best." Maddie replied.

The room seemed morbid. Three of the people in the room thought that their ghostly friend was fading away, three knew that he might change back into his human self soon, and one was too weak to think much of _anything_. For the next few minutes, they sat and waited. Danny continued to cringe every few moments and Sam walked up and started running her fingers through his matted hair in an effort to comfort her best friend.

"Geez, it feels like a crypt in here!" Tucker commented, breaking the gloomy silence.

"Well, what's it supposed to feel like? It's not exactly a happy situation." Valerie snapped back.

Their arguing was cut off by the doorbell ringing. Everyone in the room looked at each other, silently deciding who would leave to get it.

"I'll get it." Jack volunteered at last. The large man in the orange jumpsuit dashed up the stairs, making loud thuds as each foot pounded against the step.

Once he was gone, everyone looked back at Danny. Nothing had changed. He still lay there in the same condition as he was a few seconds ago. A few moments later, Jack came bounding down the stairs.

"Hey, Maddie! Vladdie's here! He heard about the accident and wants to wish Phantom luck!" Jack shouted in a happy tone. Oh, how oblivious he could be.

The young half-ghost's attention was suddenly caught. He shot up, only to have pain shoot up his body. He clutched his sides and coughed. "_Vlad_…" He groaned angrily

Sam grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to lie him back down. "Danny, stop!"

Danny grasped his side, his arm laying over the location of his burn, and tried to get up, ignoring Sam. "I'll stop once that _fruitloop_ gets out of my life!" Danny snapped, his eyes burning with hatred. His rage was, once again, granting him power.

Everyone in the room looked shocked at the ghost boy. Hadn't he been weak enough to die a few minutes ago? And what was up with his expression? He seemed so…angry! Angry enough to kill. The four other teens launched themselves at Danny and attempted to restrain the ghost boy.

"This is just like what happened last time!" Jazz stated, feeling a great deal of worry for her younger brother. "I think his hatred toward Vlad is making him stronger!"

It was true. If you had seen Danny right then, you might not have even guessed that he could barely move a few seconds ago. Not only that, but the young ghost looked almost…possessed. His eyes were blazing brighter than before and his actions and movements didn't seem his own.

This was one of the worst times for Vlad to come gracefully down the stairs.

"Hello, Daniel." He greeted snidely.

At one glimpse of the man, Danny's anger increased, as did his strength. He broke away from his friends and came limping murderously toward the older hybrid.

"_You!_ How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone and _stay out of my life_?!" Danny fumed, still advancing on Vlad.

Danny's arch-enemy didn't even flinch.

"Is that any way to greet the mayor?" Vlad remarked, testing Danny.

"Only if the _mayor_ is some _jerk_ who finds _pleasure_ in ruining people's lives!" Danny shouted in response.

Danny was about to lunge when his friends grabbed at him and held him back. Danny struggled in their grasp. Yet another instance where his mind was so clouded with rage that he couldn't think properly.

"Oh, come now, Daniel. It's not a very nice thing to blame others for your misfortunes." Vlad mocked.

"Yeah, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?" Danny retorted, a cruel smile forming on his lips.

This earned him a hard glare from the older half-ghost. Danny made another attempt to break free, but his friends held him tightly.

"Let go, guys." Danny growled.

"No, Danny. This is _exactly_ what he wants. You have to calm down." Jazz responded.

"Calm down? _Calm down_?! After all he's done to me, you expect me to just _calm down_?!" Danny shouted.

Everyone was so busy gawking at Danny that they didn't even notice when the slick business man left the room and disappeared.

"Danny, your anger is giving you extra power! If you keep this up, you might end up doing something that you'll regret!" Sam shouted, desperately attempting to gain control over her furious friend.

Suddenly, Danny stopped struggling and his face twisted into one of pain as he clutched his abdomen and crumpled to the ground. He was bent over on his knees with one arm supporting him and the other holding his stomach where the burn was.

"Danny!" Sam shouted, kneeling down next to him. She placed her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Sam, what's _wrong_ with me?" Danny moaned.

"Wait a minute. The strange behavior, getting so mad…Danny, did anything Vlad give you when you were forced to stay with him seem…funny?" Sam questioned. She had a theory of what was making Danny act like this.

"Don't…remember." Danny mumbled, feeling weaker by the second.

"Guys, help me get Danny back on the table." Sam ordered with a tone of worry.

"What's going on?!" Valerie demanded with concern and curiosity lingering in her voice.

"I'll tell you in a second, just help me get Danny back up." Sam responded with her anxious tone.

Jazz stepped onto the other side of her and grabbed the barely conscious Danny's arm. Tucker and Valerie pitched in as well. In under a minute, they had Danny back on the flat metal surface. He seemed unconscious-or at least close enough to being unconscious to not be able to move or respond.

"_Now_ can you tell us what's happening?" Valerie pestered.

"I think that Vlad found some way to poison Danny or do something to him to make him act this way." Sam explained in her frantic voice.

"But why would Vladdie do something like that?" Jack questioned in confusion. Vlad was his friend, right?

"Vlad _hates_ Danny." Sam replied.

"Yeah, his main goal in life is to ruin _Danny's_." Tucker added.

"He even tried killing Danny's little sister!" Valerie exclaimed.

"Phantom has a little sister?" The confused ghost hunters asked in unison.

"Well, it _looked_ like his little sister." The girl answered.

"Anyway, the point is that Vlad's not the guy you think he is. He's evil and, in Danny's words, he's one seriously crazed up fruit loop." Jazz concluded.

"I can't believe that Vlad would do something like this." Jack whined.

"I can." All of the other members of the room, excluding Danny, replied in unison with crossed arms and angry expressions.

"Now that we've concluded that Vlad is the bad guy, we have to find some way to help Danny." Sam stated, snapping out of her anger for Vlad to focus on her ill friend.

"Well, first we'd have to check his blood-er-ectoplasm for poison." Maddie put out. For a minute, she forgot that Danny Phantom was a ghost.

"Okay, then what?" Tucker inquired.

"Then if there _is_ any poison, we have to find some way to create a cure." Maddie responded.

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Jazz said, eager to help her sibling.

* * *

A short while later, Maddie was examining Danny's ectoplasm under a microscope. 

"Well?" Jazz asked.

This was the moment they were waiting for. They could either be one step closer to helping Danny or back to square one. It all depended on if the woman ghost hunter found any poisons or chemicals. Maddie looked up from the microscope. She turned to face the assembled group. She took a deep breath. This was it.

* * *

**I tried to make it sound as dramatic as possible. So, what do you think about the twist...that is...if there _is_ any poison. Maybe Danny did it out of pure hatred. Who knows? Oh, that's right. _Me!_**


	13. Chapter 13

**I didn't think that I'd be able to update until Friday, but it seems that I thought wrong. So, knock yourself out (no, not literally)!**

* * *

"There's poison." Maddie reported at last.

"Okay, good news, bad news. Good news; Danny wasn't doing those things on purpose. Bad news; he still has poison in him." Sam stated.

Maddie still looked a little troubled. Jazz noticed.

"Hey Mom, what's wrong?" Jazz questioned with concern.

"There's something else. Phantom's DNA is…unique. It looks different than the regular ghost DNA patterns. It has more human-like features." Maddie responded in puzzlement.

Jazz, Sam, and Tucker all tensed. Uh oh, this was _bad_ news for Danny's secret.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Jazz quickly dismissed. "Why don't we just work on finding the cure?"

"Jazz is right. It won't matter how different his DNA is if he's stuck like this." Valerie agreed. "Besides, _who knows_ what else that poison is capable of. For all we know, it could be what's making him this weak in the first place."

"Knowing Vlad, it probably is." Sam commented. "I know Danny, he's a fast healer. Even something like this wouldn't keep him down for _this_ long."

A beeping noise suddenly erupted in the lab. It came from Tucker's pocket. The techno-geek pulled out his trusty PDA. He scrutinized the screen carefully.

"Oh, darn it. I have to go home." He moaned.

Sam glanced at her watch. She was supposed to be going home too, but she couldn't leave Danny, not while he was like _this_.

"Hmmm, it is getting pretty late." Maddie noticed. "Why don't you three go home and come back tomorrow after school."

"But what about Danny?" Sam protested.

"He'll be fine." Jack assured, sounding a little different than usual. He was more serious.

Before she left, Sam walked over to Danny. She put his gloved hand in hers and began rubbing it gently.

"I'm going to be back tomorrow. I promise." Sam told him. She wasn't sure if he was able to hear her or not, but she hoped that he did.

Softly, she lowered his hand and let it fall from her grasp. She ambled away toward the stairs. Tucker and Valerie joined her. The three cast one last look at their poisoned friend before climbing up the steps and out of the house.

"Jazz, can you go check to see if your brother is home yet?" Maddie requested.

"Oh, um, yeah." She responded nervously.

Jazz skittered up the stairs. She waited a few moments before coming back down. "Danny's just doing his homework." The red-head lied.

"Finally. Why that boy forgets to do so much of his homework is a mystery. At least he is doing it now." Maddie reacted.

Jazz looked back at where her little brother _actually_ was. He was lying quite still. Jazz was getting worried.

"Um, Mom, Dad, shouldn't you put a heart monitor on him or something?" Jazz questioned with concern. Danny was hardly _ever_ this still for so long. He didn't even stay still while he was asleep!

"He's a ghost. He doesn't have a heart." Jack reminded her.

Jazz never thought about that. Did Danny's ghost form have a heart? She knew that he had one when he was human. A whole world of possibilities suddenly opened up. There was only one way to check. She walked over to the unconscious boy.

"Jazz, what are you doing?" Her mother asked curiously, looking up from her work.

"Huh? Oh. I was wondering if what Dad said was true and he didn't have a heart, well, not a working one at least." Jazz answered, her voice carrying her inquisitiveness.

"Well, he shouldn't. Although, I'm starting to lose my doubts about him. So far, all he's shown us is that he's abnormal." Maddie thought aloud.

Jazz took that as a signal that her Mom wanted to figure it out too. Jazz placed her hand gently on her little brother's chest. She waited and paid close attention. She thought that she felt a soft beat, but she wasn't sure, so she continued waiting. A few more soft poundings pressed against her hand. Yep, he still had a heartbeat. Only one more thing to prove his abnormality. It was kind of comforting, though. It would be strange to her and kinda freak her out if all of a sudden her younger sibling lost his heart. She took her hand away.

"So?" Maddie inquired, just as curious as her daughter had been.

Jazz nodded. "He has a heartbeat."

Maddie wanted proof. She copied the same procedure as her daughter, but jumped and recalled her hand hastily once she felt the steady beating. This was shocking! It shouldn't be possible, yet here was proof.

Jack was completely baffled. Phantom was a ghost, wasn't he? Ghost's don't _have_ hearts. It just didn't make sense. Up until now, he had failed to notice majority of the strange things about Phantom, but now he had no choice. Here were the facts. As he thought about this weird feature, the large man began to recall a few other things.

Everyone was snapped out of their thoughts when a groan came from Danny, signaling that he was awakening. He moved slightly, but stopped when a ring of light began appearing at his waist. The watching group was astounded. The adults at what was occurring and Jazz at the fact that her little brother's well-kept secret was about to be blown. The bright-white hoop split into two and began to move in opposite directions. One started toward his head while the other was pushed in the direction of his feet. The magnificent rings were about a foot apart when Phantom's body tensed and he started to show signs of struggling. The rings reluctantly moved back toward his center. They were almost there when they bounced back again. They made it a little farther than a foot this time, momentarily revealing the bottom of a white shirt and the top of blue jeans, before retracting. This time, they formed back together and vanished, leaving an exhausted ghost boy.

Danny was breathing heavily and his heart thudded against his chest from the effort. He couldn't even open his eyes because it would take too much energy at this point. His body lay still. Even if the rings had gone, he had to continuously try to keep them from reappearing.

"What was _that_?!" Maddie gasped in alarm.

Jazz had no idea what to say. It was obvious that Danny was losing power. She knew that even staying in ghost form for extended amounts of time could weaken him and with the previous fight and how much energy he used, things weren't looking good.

"M-maybe it's the poison." She suggested. Nothing else had come to her mind.

"I suppose it's possible. If it _is_ the poison, then we really need to speed up looking for the cure." The older woman said with puzzlement.

The ghost hunters went back to work, but Jazz stayed by her brother's side. She held his hand and gave it a small squeeze. She was surprised when she felt a faint press in return.

"Danny, if you can hear me, please give me a sign." The concerned sibling begged in a hushed tone so that only he could hear her-that is, if he could hear her in the first place.

There was another small amount of pressure applied to her hand. He heard her. A tiny smile appeared on her face.

"Mom and Dad are working on a cure. We think that the poison is making you weaker. Once the cure is finished, you'll get better. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise." Jazz comforted.

As Jazz finished her little speech, she felt Danny's grip loosen as he became unresponsive. She checked for his pulse quickly, making sure that it was still there. She sighed in relief when the slight thudding pounded against her sensitive skin. The teenage girl decided to let her brother rest and join her parents in the investigation.

"Anything?" Jazz inquired.

"Well, from what I've seen, Phantom's sudden weakness and anger was _definitely_ due to the poison. It's made to enhance his emotions, specifically; anger. It also has a chemical in it to slow his healing process." Maddie reported.

"Wait, if it just makes him angrier, then why didn't he attack Dash?" Jazz wondered.

"Attack Dash?" Maddie inquired in confusion.

"Oh, that's right. You guys don't know. Well, Vlad forced Danny to go to school, so Danny took up a secret identity. Unfortunately, Dash tried to bully Danny, not knowing who he really was. All Danny did was dodge during the whole fight." Jazz explained.

"Interesting. I have a theory. I think that the poison needs a certain level of anger to be set off." Maddie told her daughter.

"Wait, so he'd have to get really angry for it to be triggered?" Jazz questioned interestedly. Everything was beginning to piece together.

* * *

**Now, for the mysteries to be solved...next chapter. : D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Don't have much time, but I needed to put this up before I left for the dance at my school. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Yes." Maddie replied, slightly confused as to where Jazz was going with this.

"It all makes sense now!" Jazz suddenly blurted. The parents gave their daughter strange looks due to her sudden outburst. Before either one could ask what she meant, Jazz continued. "Vlad must have given Danny the poison when he was forced to live with him and then Vlad made his appearance at the school to try to get Danny mad enough so that the poison would activate! Then, Danny's emotions would get strong enough to attack Vlad and he would get a bad reputation for it! And then the poison would weaken Danny and he would have to ask Vlad for the antidote, so that Vlad could make Danny do anything and if Danny didn't…he would…die." Jazz faded off a bit at the end, the possibility that her brother could die ringing in her head.

"Um, run that by me again." Jack requested in puzzlement.

"Vlad planned this all!" Jazz simplified.

"Well, why didn't you just say so?" The man asked.

Jazz felt like slapping herself in the face at her father's ignorance. Maddie broke into the discussion.

"Let's just work on finding a cure for Phantom." Maddie suggested.

And so, they set off to work.

* * *

Several hours, numerous calculations, and many attempts later, the cure was finally discovered. Maddie held up a vial of purple liquid. 

"This is it." She announced, exasperation from her many attempts in her voice.

The other two occupants of the room watched intently as the woman in the blue jumpsuit walked carefully over to the comatose ghost boy, antidote at the ready. She gently lifted the boy's head and poured the liquid into his open mouth. The contents slowly poured out of the bottle. The last purple drops drained from the bottle and into Danny's mouth. Everyone waited, tension hanging in the air like a thick fog. Danny began to stir slightly and his glowing-green eyes opened a little. A wave of relief seemed to wash over the entire room as its occupants realized that he was going to be okay.

"Danny!" Jazz shouted, wrapping her little brother in a bone-crushing hug.

The boy struggled for breath. "Jazz…can't…breathe." Danny gasped.

"Sorry." She apologized, releasing him.

Danny was now in a sitting position on the flat metal table, observing the area around him with tired eyes.

"How do you feel?" A kind, motherly voice asked.

Danny's eyes wandered over to where the voice had come from. His Mom.

"Huh?" He questioned, not completely hearing her.

"Are you okay?" She repeated.

"I…think so." Danny replied unsurely. _Man,_ he had a headache. He moved his gloved hand subconsciously toward his throbbing head.

"Danny, Vlad poisoned you while you were there. The poison was made so that it wouldn't activate unless you got really angry, which is why he ticked you off at school. Then the poison weakened you and caused all of this to happen. That way, you'd have to come to him and do what he wants to get the cure." Jazz explained once again in a rushed tone.

"Um…" Danny stuttered, showing that he was just as clueless as when Jazz explained it to their father.

Jazz sighed in irritation and exhaustion. Great, she had to use the same technique she did with her Dad. "Vlad planned this." She clarified again.

"Why didn't you just say so?" Danny questioned, sounding like his father.

This time, Jazz _did_ slap herself in the face. Maddie almost wanted to start laughing at how similarly Jack and Phantom had just acted. Jack was slightly curious, but didn't make any comments or gestures. Danny eyes the three in confusion. _What was so funny_?

Danny shifted himself so that he could slide onto the floor in a standing position. He edged off of the side and his silver-boot-covered feet hit the ground with a barely audible thud. He leaned on the table at first, but then let go. As soon as he did, he started wobbling on the spot. His legs felt like Jello!

"Woah!" He exclaimed as his body swayed dangerously, threatening to fall over. He held his arms out in an attempt to regain balance.

Jazz grabbed Danny from behind right before he fell. The boy gazed up at his older sister who was supporting him.

"He, he. Thanks, Jazz." He thanked, somewhat embarrassed.

"No problem." She replied. "Think that you can manage standing this time?"

Danny nodded. The girl helped her younger sibling back up onto his feet. He stood still for a moment before his legs gave out and he crashed to the ground with a scream of surprise.

"That went well."Jazz commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She went to help the fallen ghost boy.

"No. I can do it." He assured, refusing her help.

Jazz rolled her teal eyes and crossed her arms. Her brother could be so stubborn.

Danny used his arms to lift himself upright once more. He managed about five seconds before he started to fall again. Jazz was ready this time and caught him.

"What were you saying about being able to do it?" She teased.

"Hey! I managed at _least_ a few seconds that time." Danny argued.

Jazz giggled. "Can you fly?"

Danny smacked himself in the face for his stupidity. "Why didn't _I_ think of that?"

The ghost boy concentrated. He managed to float a few inches off of the ground before being forced to land again, feeling worn even from the action that would usually take him very little energy.

"I'll take that as a 'no.'" Jazz responded to the boy's attempts.

"Jazz, will you help Phantom up to the guest bedroom? I don't think that he's going anywhere fast." Maddie requested. "And you might want to tell Danny what's going on."

Jazz nodded and shifted the ghost boy so that she could support him on her shoulder and help him walk-or in his case; stumble. She started moving, but Danny stopped her.

"Wait." He begged his sister.

Jazz stopped and Danny carefully turned around to face a puzzled Mr. and Mrs. Fenton.

"Thanks." He told them sincerely.

Maddie let a soft, warm smile creep onto her lips. Jack did the same, even though he was slightly confused.

"You're welcome, but just go upstairs and rest before anything _else_ happens." The woman instructed in a motherly tone.

Danny gave her a grateful smile before Jazz gave his arm a little tug, signaling for him to move. The male teen obediently turned around as Jazz held him firm. Danny leaned on the red-head as they staggered away.

Once they were up the stairs and away from their parents, Jazz had a few things to talk to Danny about and vice versa.

"Now that you're completely conscious, mind telling me what _exactl__y_ happened during the fight?" Jazz inquired with curiosity and concern bubbling inside her.

"Most of it's a vague blur. I remember using my Ghostly Wail on Vlad, then he gained his energy back and lifted me in the air. He charged his punch with an ecto-blast and then punched me in the stomach…hard. Next thing I know, everything hurts and I wake up with you looking down at me." Danny replied truthfully.

"Yeah, that punch left a nasty burn. Is it feeling any better?" The girl inquired, helping Danny up the last step on the stairway leading to the second floor.

"A little." Danny answered. "Jazz, what happened while I was unconscious?" Danny asked, his voice filled with worry and nervousness.

"Well…" She started. Danny instantly knew that he wasn't going to like this. "You remember when Vlad came and you got really mad, but at the end you collapsed?" Danny nodded. "Sam came up with the theory that Vlad might have poisoned you and then Mom tested you for poison."

Danny instantly froze. "She didn't find anything…did she?" He questioned in panic. They both knew what "anything" meant. Evidence of his half-ghost status.

They finally reached the guest bedroom and Jazz set Danny down on the bed, freeing herself.

"Um…you see…she didn't find any solid evidence that you were _half_-ghost, but she did notice that your DNA seemed to have a few human characteristic qualities." Jazz stammered, trying not to tip her brother over the edge.

Danny would have breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that his parents still hadn't caught on if he didn't have a feeling that there was something else that Jazz wasn't telling him. "Something else happened, didn't it?"

* * *

**The usual!**


	15. Chapter 15

**No comment.**

* * *

"Yeah." Jazz admitted, letting her head drop slightly. "You almost changed back at one point." She added before blurting "But they don't suspect anything!"

Danny looked completely dumbfounded. His parents almost found out?! After the information sunk in, Danny took a few deep breaths before partially calming himself down.

"You're positive they don't know anything…right?" Danny inquired hopefully.

"Absolutely." Jazz reassured. The girl decided that now wasn't the best time to inform him about the whole "beating heart" thing. If she did, he'd probably have a heart attack. "And don't worry, I'll cover for you."

The older sibling made her way to the door before turning around to face her brother one last time for the night. "Goodnight."

Danny smiled appreciatively. "Goodnight."

* * *

The next morning, Danny woke to the sun peeking through his window. It wasn't the small amount of dawn, but later in the morning. He used his arms to push his sleepy body into a sitting position on his bed. His white hair was messy and his green eyes were misted with sleep. Suddenly, his whole body gave a jolt of realization. 

"Oh, crud! I have school today!" Danny fretted loudly.

Completely forgetting just about _everything_ Danny whipped off the blankets that were still covering his legs. He twisted around so that he could get out of the guest room bed. As soon as his legs hit the floor, he fell…flat on his face.

* * *

Downstairs, Maddie was at the table, drinking a cup of hot tea. A loud bang echoed from upstairs. She glanced at the clock. 9:05. 

"I guess Phantom's awake." She muttered to herself, setting her porcelain cup on the table and getting up.

The woman climbed the stairs at a normal pace and made her way to the guest bedroom. She reached the plain door and knocked, just to be polite. She heard a muffled groan.

"Phantom, are you okay in there?" She questioned kindly.

"Huh? Yeah." Came his stifled reply.

"Can I come in?" She inquired politely.

"Yeah." Phantom answered from the other side.

Maddie turned the doorknob and opened the door carefully. If Phantom was on the other side, she didn't want to risk hitting him. She was greeted with a view of the ghost boy face-planted on the floor and making a desperate attempt to get up.

"Any reason you're on the floor?" She teased.

"Um…no." Danny denied.

The boy grabbed onto the bed and used it to pull himself up. He carefully made his way to the wall and began to stabilize himself against it. It was almost funny how he could never stay down for over a minute or two. That kid was a fighter. That was for sure.

"What time is it?" Danny suddenly asked.

"9:05. Why?" Maddie replied, finding his question unusual.

"9:05?!" Danny exclaimed. "I'm supposed to be at school!"

With this, Danny forgot all about his unsteady legs and released the wall to grip his head in panic. Unfortunately, that caused his legs to give out and send him crashing to the floor. Maddie quickly reached down to help pull him upright again.

"In _your_ state? I don't think so." Maddie protested, pulling the boy to his feet.

Danny re-stabilized himself against the firm wall. He carefully made sure that he wouldn't fall over again. There had to be some way to get him walking again or at least flying.

"Phantom, stop. Just stop." Maddie ordered, tired of how he wouldn't give up.

Danny looked curiously up at her with his inquisitive green eyes. "Stop what?"

"Stop what you're doing right now. Can't you stay down for five minutes?" Maddie answered, a little frustrated at his persistence.

The boy remained silent. It was a rhetorical question. He watched quietly as his mother shifted him to her shoulder and practically dragged him to the bed. She cautiously transferred him onto the blanket-covered surface. Once she set him down, he looked up at her, waiting for what she was going to say next. The woman sat down next to him as if she was talking to one of her own kids-which, technically, she was.

"Mind telling me the whole story?" She requested. "Like, how you got in school in the first place."

"It's a long story." Danny warned, not completely wanting to tell her, but a small part of him wanted to just spill everything that had happened.

"We have plenty of time." Maddie argued kindly.

"Well, it all started when…." Danny began.

* * *

"And that brings us to where we are now." Danny finished at last. He inhaled afterward, regaining all of the breath he had lost during the story telling. 

Maddie looked like she was thinking hard. What happened to the ghost boy was certainly interesting. How in the world had he managed to pull off those double identities (of course he didn't tell her that it was actually _three_ identities)? Either he was a really good actor or everyone in Amity Park was extremely blunt.

"Why do you and Vlad hate each other so much?" Maddie inquired. She didn't like the guy either, but Phantom absolutely _despised_ him.

Danny got a little angrier when his arch enemy was brought up. Vlad was the source of almost all of his current problems as well as majority of his former ones.

"A lot of reasons." Danny responded mysteriously.

"Care to be more specific?" Maddie nudged.

"I would if I could, but if I told you, he'd probably obliterate me." Danny answered, attempting to keep _that_ visual out of his head.

"Obliterate you? Isn't that a little harsh?" Maddie wondered, feeling slightly sympathetic for the ghost boy.

"He's not known to be rational." Danny stated.

"How would he know that you told me?" Maddie inquired.

"Even if you never told him or hinted at it, he has loads of ways to find these things out. Hidden cameras, spies…I think you get the picture." Danny responded with a hint of annoyance.

"Hold up, Vlad _spies_ on us?!" Maddie almost shouted in anger.

"You and me both." The ghost boy confirmed. "I've said it before and I'll say it again; Vlad is one _seriously_ crazed up fruitloop."

"Phantom, you _have_ to tell me everything about what Vlad has done."

* * *

**Vlad's about to get his just desserts (which do not contain any of the following food items: butter biscuts, fudge buckets, cheese logs, butter brickle... May contain the following items: Dairy products, fruit loops. Oh, and I'm not giving him chocolate either. The only people who get chocolate are nice people who don't try taking over the world, obsessing over their ex-best friend's wife, try cloning their arch-enemy who they want as a son, threaten to an extreme level, cause bodily harm to innocent teenagers, or munipulate others)**

**Review please!**


	16. Chapter 16

**This chapter is kinda...eh. It's basically a filler chapter.**

* * *

"Only if you promise to never let him find out and I can choose which information I give out. Some of it is worse than others and will earn me a one way ticket to an even _more_ miserable life." Danny negotiated.

"I promise." The woman agreed.

"For starters, Vlad works _with_ evil ghosts and gets them to do his bidding. That ghost that I was fighting, Plasmius, is in with Vlad. Vlad sent him. Plasmius has been trying to get me to join him for a long time and stops at almost nothing to do it, not to mention he has twenty more years of experience than I do." Danny began.

"Wait, Vlad was working _with_ that evil ghost?" Maddie questioned in shock.

"Yep." Danny replied in the tone that showed that this wasn't anything new to him.

"And that ghost wants you to join him?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Can't say." Really, it was because Danny was half-ghost too, but there was something else about having potential or whatever his insane enemy was talking about.

"How does that help Vlad?"

Danny wasn't really expecting that one. He couldn't say that it was because they were the same person. "It's kind of…an equal partnership. Vlad helps Plasmius in return for his services. Plasmius does whatever benefits him though, so does Vlad."

"Okay, that explains a little, but why do they hate you then? I mean, if that Plasmius ghost wants you to join him, then why does he hate you?" The mother pestered.

"It's really complicated. I don't even think that _I've_ gotten it figured out. Sometimes, he-er-they hate me because I stop all of their plans and then sometimes they're trying to get me to join them." Danny tried to explain. It was all so true. Vlad was extremely confusing. His goals changed in an instant. First, he's trying to get Danny to join him, then he's all revenge, then he's back to joining, revenge, joining, revenge…

"So, what have they done so far?" Maddie asked hesitantly. She was pretty sure she wasn't going to like the answer.

"I can only name a few. The others…I don't really like to talk about." Danny mentioned before continuing. The cloning incident was _definitely_ something that he didn't want to discuss. "So far, I've been kidnapped enough times to lose count, he's threatened me _and_ my friends, and the _only_ reason that Vlad moved here was so that he could make my life as hard and miserable as possible." Danny replied in irritation with the older hybrid. "Not to mention the things that I can't say, which just about outnumber the things I _can_."

The woman moved her hand unintentionally toward her (metaphorically) spinning head as if it would help her process all of the information Phantom had just given her. Vlad…Vlad had done all of that. He spied on them. He helped kidnap Phantom. One thought rung in her head like a gong, though. _The things that I can't say just about outnumber the things that I _can. There was more? What's even more horrifying, whatever else there was…it was most likely **worse**.

While Maddie was distracted, Danny took it as an opportunity to try to walk again. Unnoticed by his mother, he carefully rose from the bed and edged his way to the nearest wall. Unfortunately, Maddie snapped out of her trance in time to catch this act.

"I thought that you were going to stay down for a while?" Maddie remembered, startling Danny as she said this.

After his body gave a little jolt from the surprise, Danny focused back on her. "I never said that I would. Besides, how can I fight off ghosts if I'm sitting down? Maybe I'll be able to walk by now."

"Fight ghosts? You're in no condition to fight!" Maddie scolded. She found herself almost adding "young man" to the end like she did with Danny, her son.

"Never stopped me before." Danny retorted coolly. He hoisted himself from the bed so that he was standing. Of course, he was still leaning on the wall for support. The teen worked on edging his way across the room along the wall, trying to regain his strength and balance. "Just to let you know, I already had this argument with my friends and, just like with them, I'm going to keep refusing to stop protecting the town just because I'm hurt."

"That's careless and reckless." The maternal figure lectured.

Danny stopped moving to face her. A serious expression was spread across his features. That hard and brave look seemed so foreign on his young face.

"Maybe, but it's part of the job, a part that I am well aware of. The day I decided to protect the town, I accepted all of the burdens that came with it, this one included." Danny responded maturely.

To Maddie, his words seemed to belong to an adult, not a child. He was a kid, for Pete's sake! He shouldn't have to think about these things! Most _adults_ don't even have to worry about stuff like this!

"When you're a protector, you can't be selfish. If a ghost attacks at three in the morning, I have to be there to stop it. If someone I really don't like needs help, then I have to grit my teeth and live with it. If I get hurt, it doesn't matter. Injuries heal, but if someone was killed because I didn't help, then they can't come back and it's my fault. Everyone's needs come before my own. Always." Danny finished. There was no hint of sadness in his voice, just courage and selflessness.

"Phantom, what makes you think that everything is your responsibility? You're only a teenager, you shouldn't have to worry about these things." Maddie discussed, using her motherly tone.

Danny chuckled. "You sound kind of like my friend. She thinks that it's unnatural for _anyone_ to be that selfless, let alone a teenager." He gave another small laugh at the memory. Then, as if someone had flipped a light switch, he turned back to being serious. "Listen, this is the way things _have_ to be. I can't stand by and watch when I know that I could be out there doing something. As far as age goes…it shouldn't matter. Sure, I've had responsibility and maturity thrusted on me younger than most people and I had to learn a lot of life lessons faster, but overall, I think I'm better this way. Not because now I have some cool new abilities or anything, but because I'm a better person now than I ever was."

"You've put a lot of thought into this." Maddie remarked, a small amount of pity echoing in her voice. It was almost sad. The way he spoke, you could tell that life basically threw everything it could at him and from what she could make out, he probably stood there and took it. He was obviously mature beyond his years.

"Yeah, I have." Danny answered, a small sad smile forming. No one knew how much thought that he had put into it.

Danny began to once again walk alongside the walls. He felt his stability slowly returning to him. Cautiously, Danny walked slowly away from the wall. After a moment or two, his hand left the wall and he stood independently. Just to make sure he was fine, the boy took a few steps and paced a little.

"Looks like I can walk again." Danny reported mostly to himself. The ghost boy then took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. Maddie watched curiously. She was about to ask what he was doing when she noticed that he had begun to lift off of the ground. Danny was now hovering a few inches above the floor. Feeling nothing under his feet, the young ghost re-opened his electric green eyes. A small smile formed on his lips. "Looks like flying is alright, too." As if to prove it, he floated across the room and back a few times before landing.

"What about the burn?" Maddie questioned.

"Probably gone or close to gone by now." Danny replied casually, shrugging his shoulders.

_"What?!"_ Maddie exclaimed in shock and disbelief. "That thing was _huge_ and it just happened _yesterday_!"

"I know." Danny responded, unaffected by her astonishment. "One of the upsides of being a ghost; faster healing."

"_That_ fast?"

"Yep."

"So, now what are you going to do?" Maddie inquired, curious as to what he was planning to do next.

"I…um…guess I'll just go on patrol or something." Danny suggested. Although, he was really thinking of heading to school so that Danny _Fenton_ wouldn't get in trouble. Danny _Phantom_ was going to have to skip today. Besides, making an "entrance" by showing up late was the _last_ thing that he wanted.

"Going to avoid school?" Maddie teased as if reading his mind.

"If you mean the place where I'll probably get attacked by fans, won't have two feet of personal space, and will be bombarded with questions as well as murdered by my friends for getting into that fight in the first place; then yeah." Danny retorted hastily.

Maddie almost started giggling. He was probably right. The fact that the boy's face was going paler the more he thought about it was hilarious. She now completely understood why he had taken up that secret identity in the first place.

"Just be careful." She warned.

"As careful as I can be in my situation." Danny assured. He began to make his way to the wall closest to the window, but turned around. "And thanks. For everything." The boy gave a weak smile before flying through the wall and off to the school.

Maddie stared at the spot he was just standing in for a moment or two before being interrupted by the ringing phone. She ran downstairs and picked it up.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Is this Mrs. Fenton?" The voice inquired from the other side.

"Yes, it is." Maddie responded. "Who is this?"

"This is Mr. Lancer."

* * *

**I know, barely a cliffie if even, but my brain's running on low. Review if you want.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Again, not much action, some humor.**

* * *

"_This is Mr. Lancer_. I have to inform you that your son has not shown up at school today." The teacher reported.

"What?" The mother cried in shock and horror. Her son _skipped_?!

"I…oh, wait, here he is now." Lancer said in that monotone voice that made it so easy to fall asleep in his class.

"May I speak to him?" Mrs. Fenton requested, wanting to give that boy a good talking to.

"Yes, you may." Lancer granted.

There was a short pause before another voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

That was Danny.

"Daniel James Fenton, what on _earth_ do you think you were doing?! School started over an hour ago!" The angered maternal figure lectured.

"Oh…um…sorry, Mom. I was on my way to school when I…um…tripped. I hit my head pretty hard and passed out. But I'm fine now." Danny lied. His tone was tinted with nervousness, but consisted mostly of a well practiced manor.

Maddie instantly switched from angry to concerned. "Are you sure? Do you need to see a doctor?"

"No, Mom, I'm fine. I have to go now. See you after school. Bye!" The teen then hung up abruptly.

"Mr. Fenton, would you care to take your seat?" Mr. Lancer asked, although, it was basically the same as an order.

Danny slouched back into his seat and tried to make himself inconspicuous. The educator resumed his boring lesson. Danny was busy trying to actually absorb some of the information so that his grades wouldn't take another hit next time there was a test when a small ball of paper hit him on the head. Danny instinctively clutched the back of his head as he bent down to pick up the small wad that had rebounded off of him. He carefully un-crumpled the note and began to read, managing to hide it from the teacher's gaze.

_What happened?_

Danny turned to see Sam looking at him, indicating that she was the thrower. Danny quickly scribbled something down and then, after checking to make sure Mr. Lancer wasn't watching, sent it back.

_Tell you after class._

Sam looked back and nodded.

* * *

"So…what happened?" Sam interrogated. 

The three were out in a secluded part of the halls.

"Yeah, dude. Yesterday you looked like you were an inch from death…or whatever happens to half-ghosts." Tucker added.

"My parents found a cure, but after that I was still weak. So, they let me stay in the guest bedroom and I was asleep until just a little while ago." Danny explained. "I still don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow, though."

"We'll worry about that later. Right now, let's just be happy that you're safe." Sam said with relief in her voice. She, for one, was just glad to see that he had come out of this alive. She had no idea what she'd do if she ever lost Danny.

"Danny!" An excited shriek echoed through the halls.

Before Danny knew what was happening, he was being crushed between the arms of his overprotective sister, Jazz.

"What happened? When did you get here? Why didn't you tell me you were back?" Jazz blurted, finally letting go of her younger brother.

"In order; I woke up and I got my strength back, I got here in the middle of last period, and I didn't have a chance to." Danny answered, feeling irritated with his sister's sting of questions. Although, he couldn't really blame her.

"Well no need to get snappy." Jazz snapped.

"Sorry." The boy apologized. "So, what happened so far? I mean, everyone just found out that Danny _Phantom_ is going to their school. What are they saying?" He whispered.

"After you were taken to the principal's office, everyone started talking about what had just happened. Dash was pretty shocked that he had picked a fight with you and a lot of people were debating about…about whether or not it was safe to be around you." Sam informed.

"Yeah, almost killing the Mayor didn't do much good for your reputation." Tucker added.

"Anything else?" Danny asked grimly.

"Besides the huge amount of rumors, no." Sam answered.

"Rumors?" The half-ghost gulped.

"Well…here." Tucker handed Danny a white piece of paper with writing all over it. "We wrote down all of the ones we heard."

The anxious boy snatched the list from his friend's hand scanning down the numerous rumors. The more he read, the paler his face became. Some stood out more than others, some posed a threat to his hard-earned reputation, and a few were dangerously close to the truth. _Vlad is Phantom's father? Vlad killed Phantom and now Phantom wants revenge? Danny Phantom is holding a grudge against Vlad for something? Vlad's __really__ an evil villain planning on eliminating Phantom so that he can take complete control of Amity Park/the world? Vlad is actually a diabolical ghost and Phantom's trying to get rid of him before he can cause trouble, but Vlad's just tricking us into thinking that he's an innocent human? Okay, the last two were prett__y close, but most of these were just…ugh!__ The weird thing was; the two that were pretty close, were the ones that sounded the most insane.__ Although, his life_ was_ far from normal._

"I can't believe this." Danny commented, his head numb from the whole thing.

"Hey, guys!" A dark skinned girl greeted. Valerie ran through the passing students and up to the four teens. "So, how's Phantom?" She whispered.

"Oh, he's…um…fine." Danny stammered.

"Really? Because that was a pretty bad burn, plus the poison and everything…" Valerie trailed.

"Yeah, Danny just needed some time to recover." Jazz replied, her voice wavering slightly from her bad lying skills.

"So…he's going to be here tomorrow?" The huntress wondered.

"Um…" The four others stuttered.

"Maybe." Danny replied at last. "Although I can tell you one thing, there's no way he'll be looking forward to it."

"I bet. It'll be hard with all the fans and everyone asking questions and…"

"Okay, we get the point." The tense teen interrupted. Anymore and he would blow.

"Well, okay. I'll see you guys later. Call me if you need any help dragging him here." She joked, walking back into the stream of students.

Everyone looked back at Danny. The boy seemed to be in a trance.

"Danny? Danny?!" Sam shouted, waving her hand in front of his face. He partially broke his trance and gave her half of his attention. "We're not going to need to drag you to school tomorrow, are we?"

* * *

"Danny…come…on!" Sam huffed, pulling one of her friend's arms. 

Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie were attempting to drag Danny Phantom into the school. However, the ghost boy was resisting. Sam had made sure that he wouldn't be able to get away by using some sort of device that I will not go into detail about because that's not the main point of the story.

"No! This is a bad idea!" Danny protested, pulling backwards with all of his strength. How one half-ghost was managing to almost pull back four teens was beyond the members of the team trying to get him to move.

"Just…get it…over with…now!" Jazz panted.

"Dude, it will…be worse…if you don't go…than…if you…do!" Tucker added. If he didn't go, Vlad would probably hire the Guys in White to force him or something.

"Come on, guys!" Danny whined, opposing them.

"How…the heck…did Danny…get so…strong?!" Valerie complained.

"Only…a few…more…feet." Sam noted as they approached the front door.

The teens pushed the door open and, with their combined efforts, shoved the nervous ghost teen inside.

* * *

**Hopefully, next chapter will be better.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yeah, I know. _I'm late._ I've just been really busy lately.**

* * *

Everyone instantly stopped what they were doing and stared at Danny. The boy felt his glowing green eyes go wide at the sudden attention as well as a slight squeeze on his right arm, most likely from Sam trying to make sure that he wouldn't make a break for it. 

"It's Danny Phantom!" A student suddenly cried.

The hall erupted into chatter. Everyone moved toward him, trying to get close to their usually elusive hero. He desperately wanted to get out of there.

"Can you _at least_ let me turn invisible?" He begged quietly as the crowd grew nearer.

Whatever they were going to say was cut off by someone shouting.

"_The Diary of Anne Frank_! What's going on here?!" Lancer demanded from the back of the crowd.

Without waiting for a response, the overweight man shoved his way through the mob of excited teenagers. Finally, he made it to the source of the problem. Danny Phantom and his friends were standing in the doorway. Phantom wore a look of pure shock and the four around him were gripping his arms tightly, like they had just dragged him here, which, in reality, they had. It was clear that the ghostly member of the group clearly wasn't going to say anything. His mouth just hung agape. None of the others seemed too intent on speaking either.

"Everyone go to class!" Mr. Lancer ordered the horde of students.

Reluctantly, they slowly dispersed, mumbling softly to one another. Whatever they were saying, it was probably on the lines of "How _dare_ he make us leave our hero." The teacher then turned back to the quintet behind him. Phantom was still shell-shocked and the others were still clinging to him. The educator was slightly surprised to see Ms. Fenton there. He often saw the other three hovering around "D.J.," but he didn't recall the red-head being part of the group.

"I suggest you four get to class." He instructed sternly.

"Four?" Sam asked. That meant…

"I'd like to have a quick word with Mr. Phantom." Lancer informed. He saw the boy visibly tense.

Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Jazz cast an anxious look at Danny, silently asking him if they should go. He gave a small nod in their direction, granting their departure. The four rushed off to their own classes, but not without giving Danny one last nervous look before leaving. The boy had watched until the last of his friends were completely out of sight. Then, he turned back to the teacher. Mr. Lancer was about a foot over his head, so he had to look up. Danny had to restrain himself from gulping. He had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

Lancer watched the ghost teen in front of him shift uncomfortably under his gaze. The teacher was aware that Phantom did not particularly like questions. That was proven by the fact that he either ran-er-flew away or stammered uncontrollably. Those were the times when his normal teenager side became more pronounced.

"Can you please say something before I go insane from the silence?" Danny pleaded. Awkward silences were usually worse than the questioning followed by it.

Mr. Lancer was surprised by this remark, but decided that he should really start talking.

"Is this about the other day?" Danny interrupted. Knowing the answer perfectly well.

"Yes, it is." Lancer replied. "Do you mind explaining what that was all about and why you attacked the Mayor?"

Danny avoided the overweight educator's eyes while he answered. "Vlad and I don't really get along well. He knows me and he knows how to make me mad so that's just what he did. Not to mention the extra boost from the poison."

"Poison?" Lancer interrupted. The kid was _poisoned_?

"Oh…um…yeah. Vlad found a way to poison me so that if he got me mad enough, I'd…well, I'd attack. Then, the poison would slowly kill me and I'd have to come to him for the antidote." Danny muttered just loud enough for Lancer to hear.

"Why would Mr. Masters do that?" Lancer wondered.

"Because he's a total creep." Danny replied with a slightly angry tone.

Lancer knew that the anger wasn't directed toward him. He could tell that Phantom was mad at the thought of Mr. Masters. The two were suddenly caught off guard when the bell began to ring and echo throughout the virtually empty hallways.

"I'd better go." Danny noticed.

Before waiting for an answer, he rushed down the hall, behind a corner, and out of sight. Even though he knew that the classroom would be worse, he was glad to be out from under Mr. Lancer's penetrating gaze and away from all of the questions that made Danny almost shudder with nervousness. Once the ghost boy was positive that no one was watching, he duplicated himself, turning the other one human. They both raced off to their first class. Danny Fenton walked in first. Then, after a few moments, (so as not to cause suspicion) Danny Phantom entered. The room instantly became silent again. Man, Danny hated when this happened. He tried to ignore them and walk to his seat. More and more whispers sounded with every step he took. Danny also noticed how everyone's curious eyes followed him. It was becoming increasingly hard to just overlook them. By the time he got to his seat, the room was booming with murmurs. Luckily, Danny's friends surrounded him so that he didn't have to worry about having obsessed fans bothering him during class. The boy almost jumped for joy when Mr. Lancer walked in and told the class to be quiet.

"Class, just because Mr. Phantom is here does not mean that it is an excuse to slack on your educational responsibilities. Anyone who I catch neglecting their work to annoy Mr. Phantom will be given an automatic detention. If it happens again, I will assign you a two-page essay on the importance of educational responsibilities." Lancer lectured. A groan echoed throughout almost the entire class. Almost. He caught Phantom mouth a silent "thank you" at him. The teacher had to hold back the urge to smile in return.

"Now, class, I'd like you to turn to page 50 in your books." Lancer commanded.

There was the rustling of pages being turned, but a short gasp had mixed itself in there as well. Everyone, realizing that the gasp had come from Danny Phantom, curiously turned toward their hero. Every occupant of the room observed as a short puff of icy cold breath escaped his mouth. Danny then noticed all of the strange looks that he was receiving.

"Heh, heh…ghost sense." Danny replied somewhat embarrassedly to the looks, rubbing the back of his neck. "May I be excused?"

Lancer just nodded his head. This was certainly an awkward scenario. The teacher watched as his ghostly student rose from his desk and flew _through_ the wall with lightning reflexes. It was preformed so gracefully that it was like one fluid motion. Lancer surveyed the room full of teenagers. Everyone was still staring at the spot where Phantom had just phased through the wall. (Fortunately, that gave duplicate Danny a chance to disappear). The overweight educator let out a sigh. He _knew_ that this boy was going to be a distraction to his class.

"Would all of you care to stop staring at the wall and read your books?" Lancer snapped.

There were a few muffled groans, scoffs, and mumbles, but the class began to do their work. However, they were all interrupted again by a large **BANG** on the wall. A few students rushed to the window without thinking. Gradually, more students joined until there was a good sized group watching intently. Tiredly, Mr. Lancer strode over to see what they were all looking at. Just as he thought. Phantom was fighting some robotic ghost. He had begun to notice that this particular ghost came around quite often. The two ghosts were fighting brutally, the larger relying mostly on the abundance of weapons that he carried. After a moment or two, the teacher began to notice that everyone was watching the fight like they would watch a movie. If Phantom got hit hard or captured, they would gasp in horror. Whenever the ghost boy broke free or did some serious damage to his opponent, they would either silently or verbally cheer. A good few minutes passed before Danny Phantom managed to suck the ghost into that thermos-like thing that he always carried around. The students watched happily as their hero made his way back. The teen phased through the wall where everyone was standing, giving them all confused looks.

"Why is everyone looking out the window?" He wondered as he landed. Although, he was almost positive that he already knew the answer.

"Oh…um…" A few people stuttered, looking toward the floor in embarrassment and guilt.

"They were all watching the fight." Valerie spoke up at last.

Yep. Danny knew it.

"That was so awesome!" Dash remarked in amazement.

"Yeah!" A male student agreed. "That part where you blasted that ghost's arm off; that was **cool**!"

"Like, literally!" A girl added. "That freeze power is amazing!"

Suddenly, the room erupted with all kinds of comments and questions. Mr. Lancer caught his new student mouth a silent "help." The educator didn't usually find many things very funny, but he had to admit, _this_ was an almost hilarious sight.

"Alright, everyone, return to your seats!" Lancer shouted above all of the babbling teens. His voice wasn't very angry sounding, more like amused.

All the teens unwillingly did as they were told. Sam was walking back when, suddenly, something caught her eye.

* * *

**Do I even need to say it?**

**Also, I f _anyone_ knows how to get a movie from Windows Movie Maker onto You tube or Live video _please_ tell me how.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I'm just gonna post this really quick, 'kay?**

* * *

It was Danny. He had a slight limp. Knowing him for almost all her life and being around his ghost half for a few months short of two years had given her the ability to notice these small little things about him. She also knew that when he limped in this particular way, he was trying to hide whatever injury he managed to get.

"Wait a minute." Sam suddenly said, causing everyone, including Danny, to turn and look inquisitively at her. "Danny, what happened?" She asked in bored, yet concerned, tone, and crossing her arms tiredly. She saw the quick instance of nervousness that washed over his face. It lasted for only a second, but that was enough for Sam. She caught him…and he knew it.

"What do you mean?" He attempted to cover, trying to sound as innocent as possible. His efforts were futile because Sam (and _maybe_ a few other people) heard the slight quaver in his voice.

"Your leg." Sam answered bluntly.

Everyone turned to the ghost kid. It didn't _look_ like anything was wrong with his leg, although, it was hard to tell with the black hazmat pants and high white boots covering it.

"N-Nothing." Danny stammered nervously. Darn it! She caught him _again_!

"Don't try hiding it. I've known you long enough to notice these things. You're limping and by the way you are I know that you're trying to hide it, just like you _always_ do when you get hurt. Plus, your hands are curled up into fists. If you're not fighting, then that means that you're either nervous, angry, or in pain." Sam stated in an all-knowing manner.

Everyone, including Tucker and Valerie, stared open-mouthed at the Goth girl. How the heck did she know Danny Phantom so well? One look at Phantom and you could tell that he was only _slightly_ surprised by this, but more annoyed. His face finally dropped, signaling that he had surrendered to her all-knowingness.

"Someday, I have to figure out how you do that." He managed to say after a couple of seconds. His tone showed that he had admitted defeat.

The spectral teen's response triggered a victorious smirk from Sam. "Now tell me what happened."

"I just hit the wall hard, that's all." He replied quickly. He knew that she wasn't done with him, though, when she quirked an eyebrow and frowned.

"Danny…" She trailed in irritation. Why did he have to be so darn _stubborn_?!

"What? That's it!" Danny snapped, irritation running thick in his voice.

"Daniel James Phantom, stop trying to lie to me!" Sam demanded, making Danny wince at the use of his full name. "Can you stop being stubborn for two minutes?!"

"Fine! I twisted my leg in the fight! Happy?!" Danny screamed back, becoming angry with how much she was worrying.

"No! You think I _like_ it when you get hurt?!" She yelled in response.

"Why can't you stop worrying so much?! I know how to take care of myself!" The boy snapped.

"You obviously don't! If you did, you'd end up telling someone when you hurt yourself or were so weak that you were about to pass out! But you don't! You hide it! And it usually ends up being a problem later!" The Goth girl argued.

"Well _maybe_ I just don't want to make you guys worry! It's bad enough that you're mixed up in all of this!" The ghost teen retorted.

The arguing friends had completely forgotten about the crowd around them. Everything and everyone faded into nothingness. However, the rest of the class was watching the argument with great interest. The more they heard, the more they learned about their hero. Seriously, his middle name was _James_?

"It makes me _more_ worried when you **don't** tell me!" Sam yelled.

Tucker and Valerie decided that now would be a good time to intervene. The African-American teens quickly stepped in between the two. Tucker held back Danny while Valerie restrained Sam.

"Would you two _quit it?_!" Valerie boomed.

"Yeah! You guys are friends, you shouldn't be fighting!" Tucker added, holding a still furious ghost boy.

"He/she started it!" Both Sam and Danny shouted, pointing at each other.

"Well _now_, you both have to stop it!" Valerie retorted.

The angered teens stopped struggling and settled for nasty glares and crossed arms.

"Okay, we're going to straighten this out, _now_." Valerie stated sternly.

"Danny, we know that you're concerned about having other people see you weak because you think that it will make them feel insecure and helpless, but Sam has a point. You can't keep hiding these things. It's going to get you into serious trouble one day." Tucker lectured. He saw Danny slump his shoulders and all his anger drain out of him. Sam was about to give a victorious smile, but Tucker cut her off. "And Sam, we know that _you're_ worried that Danny will hurt himself really badly one day or that he won't come back from a fight, we all are, but you can't always protect him. You need to give him some space." At this, Sam's face relaxed as well.

Both teens looked sadly away from each other. The two were in deep thought. Finally, Danny turned back to Sam.

"I'm…sorry for yelling." Danny apologized, his voice sincere. "I know that you were only trying to help."

"And I'm sorry that I'm always on your case." Sam mumbled. "You're one of my _best_ friends; I just don't want to watch you get hurt."

"Now, was that so hard?" Tucker commented, earning glares from his two best friends.

"Now, will you show me what happened already?" Sam snapped playfully at Danny.

"Should have known you wouldn't give up." Danny mumbled.

"Yeah, you should've." Sam teased.

Danny sighed, defeated. "Fine. But I'm warning you, it's not a pretty sight."

"I'm sure I can handle it." Sam assured.

"Yeah, but I'm not so positive about everyone else." Danny muttered.

"Good point. Um, Mr. Lancer, can we go in the hall?" Sam asked permission.

"I suppose you may." Lancer granted. He didn't exactly want to see what injury that boy had managed to receive this time. By Phantom's tone, it was probably decently gruesome and/or grotesque.

Wasting no time, the girl grabbed Danny sharply by the wrist and dragged him out into the hall, him stumbling most of the way. The class wasn't sure whether they should laugh at the situation that had just occurred; the powerful Danny Phantom losing an argument with the resident loser Goth girl and being pulled into the hallway by said girl, or feel sad that their hero was hurt.

Once out in the student-free passage, Sam let go of Danny's wrist and turned sharply, crossing her arms as a signal to start. Danny groaned, getting her message loud and clear. Slowly, he bent down and grabbed at the bottom of his right pant leg. Sam watched as he winced slightly when he began to raise it. Once he got to his knee, the injury was completely unveiled. She only seemed mildly surprised about this, though. However, Danny had just proved her previous point.

* * *

**Review, blah, blah, blah. I'm supposed to be going to bed in, like, a few minutes, but I had to post this first 'cause it's late. That's all, bye!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Look! Twice in one (extended) weekend!**

* * *

Danny had several cuts, bruises, and marks all along his leg. It was also pretty swollen and it looked just short of broken. Sam glared at him and placed her hands on her hips. The boy just gave her an innocent smile. 

The girl sighed. "I'll get the bandages."

"_Sam_, it's fine." Danny whined.

"How is _that_ fine?" Sam snapped. "Any more any you'd probably break it!"

"I get these things all the time. It'll be gone before you know it." The ghost teen assured.

"We're still going to wrap it up, just in case." The Goth argued. Danny was about to say something, but Sam cut him off. "And that's final."

With that last remark, Sam left Danny to go back into the classroom and get some gauze from her bag. The class stared as she walked in.

"What happened?" Valerie asked in concern. The way Danny was talking before made it seem like it was pretty bad.

"Well, Mr. Brilliant out there practically broke his leg as well as managed to get beaten up pretty badly." Sam replied, her tiredness of the boy's stubborn attitude clear in her voice. She reached into her spider-bag and grabbed out the needed item.

"Does this mean that he can't fight ghosts for a while?" Paulina asked.

"No. It means he _shouldn't_ fight ghosts for a while. He will though." The dark-clothed girl responded irritably.

"Yeah. We're dealing with the most stubborn kid on the planet here." Tucker added jokingly. "We've tried keeping him down before, but he just gets right back up."

Sam nodded in agreement at that and then entered the halls once more. Danny stayed right where she had told him to. He was standing now and some of the more minor injuries had already begun to heal over, but it still looked pretty bad. Tiredly, she bent down and started wrapping up the injured part of his leg.

"And you wonder why I worry about you." She muttered, having a closer look at his leg. "You should really hold off on the ghost fighting for a while. At least until your leg is healed." She finished off tying the bandages and rolled his pant leg back down.

"But…" Danny didn't get to finish.

"Your parents and Valerie can handle the ghost fighting for now. And unless you want a broken leg, you'll do what I say."

"Sam, I can't just _stop_ ghost fighting. It's part of who I am now. Besides, I'm one of the most capable ghost fighters around here. Who knows what havoc the ghosts will wreak if I'm not there." Danny argued.

She was expecting this answer. Softly, she pushed on his leg. She felt him wince in pain a little. Slightly harder…

"Ow!" Danny finally yelped.

"Yeah, you'd do the town real good in your state." She snapped. "Although, I know that no matter what, I can't hold you back so…just be careful. Okay?"

Danny nodded with a little smile on his face. "Okay."

"Now, let's get back into class." She moaned. "Think you can walk by yourself?"

"Sam, you make it sound like…never mind." Danny was about to tease, but stopped considering he almost _did_ break his leg, so he decided not to.

Quietly, they slipped back into class. Everyone began staring, making the two friends feel _very_ uncomfortable and self-conscious. Avoiding as many stares as possible, Danny and Sam took their seats. Everyone was still staring.

"What?" Danny questioned, trying his best not to snap at them from the annoying gawking.

As soon as he uttered those words, everyone stopped staring and shifted their gaze back to the front of the classroom. Lancer seemed to be mentally checking over the students.

"Has anyone seen Mr. Fenton?" The teacher wondered.

That was all it took for everyone to start searching the room, like they needed to confirm that Danny Fenton was gone, and murmuring to their friends and themselves.

"I...think he's out in the hall. I'll go check." Danny stuttered. Without waiting for anyone's response, he flew through the wall and into the passageway. It was empty. Good. Danny mad0e a quick duplicate, his copy turning human. There was only one problem…

"Ow!" The human Danny yelped as he tried to walk.

…That nearly broken leg was going to hurt his human self more than his ghost self.

"Uh oh, this isn't good." Danny Phantom thought to himself. "How the heck am I supposed to explain how Danny _Fenton_ got the same injury I did?"

Suddenly, the door burst open and Sam came rampaging into the hallway.

"Danny, what's taking so long?" She asked.

"We kinda have a problem." The ghostly image of Danny reported, indicating to his duplicate who was displaying his leg while leaning against the wall for support.

"Well…maybe we could just tell Lancer that Danny _Fenton_ snuck outside and was accidentally hit by a rouge ecto-blast and that you helped him to the nurse." Sam suggested, slightly uncertain about the excuse.

"I think that it's the best we've got." Danny agreed. He quickly absorbed his replica and they both made their way back into the room. As soon as they entered, everyone stared expectantly. Man, if Danny had a dime for every time people were staring at him, he wouldn't even _need_ to do chores so that he could pay to eat at the Nasty Burger.

"Fenton snuck outside and got hit with a stray blast." Danny reported, making his tone as truthful as possible.

"Yeah. Danny…er…Phantom that is…just came back from getting him to the nurse." Sam added.

They had just finished explaining when the bell signaling the end of the class sounded. Majority of the students were thrilled that they had gotten through most of class without _actually_ having to learn anything due to the constant distractions. The crowd emptied the room as fast as they could, creating the impression that some wild beast was chasing them out. Danny had just stepped out, though, when…

"Your middle name is _James_?!"

"How bad did you get hurt?!"

"How come Manson knows you so well?! Are you guys, like, friends?!"

"Are you and Manson _together_ or something?!"

"No! Manson likes Fenton, remember?"

"Oh, in that case, will you go out with me?!"

"No! Go out with _me_ Phantom! Please?!"

"Do you like brunettes?!"

"Of course he doesn't! He _totally_ likes blondes!"

"Nuh-uh! He likes girls with _red_ hair!"

"You're both wrong! He _definitely_ likes black hair the best! Right Phantom?!"

"Wait, where'd he go?"

The mob of students that had surrounded Danny finally noticed that he was no longer there. At least, they didn't think he was.

"Gotta love invisibility." Danny thought incoherently to himself as he floated invisibly above the hoard of curious teens.

Undetectably, the ghost boy flew away from the group before landing in a deserted hallway. He peaked around the corner to see that everyone was still confusedly checking their surroundings as if he was suddenly going to appear right in front of them. Satisfied, Danny turned around, only to bump into someone. The figure let out a soft grunt. After regaining his senses, the ghostly teen looked up at who he had bumped into.

* * *

**Ooooh! Who's it gonna be? Revews are very much appreciated!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hiya!**

* * *

"M-Mr. Lancer. Uh, hi." The boy stuttered. Smooth, Fenton.

"Mr. Phantom, I was just looking for you." The teacher stated calmly.

"You were?" Danny asked, his voice slightly higher than usual.

"Yes, I just went to check on Mr. Fenton. He wasn't there and when I asked the nurse, she told me that he never came in. Care to explain?" Lancer interrogated.

Danny gulped. Uh-oh, he was in trouble. "Well…um…"

Lancer quirked his eyebrow. The kid was hiding something. "Mr. Phantom…" he prodded.

"Fenton…told me not to tell." Danny decided on at last. His human self was in a heck of a lot of trouble for this.

"Tell _what_?" Mr. Lancer continued. For a moment, it was weird speaking to the ghost boy like this. Then, he started to realize that Danny Phantom didn't seem unnerved by this at all. Now, Lancer realized that Phantom was basically just another kid, only with a huge responsibility. Although the teacher never admitted it aloud, he actually admired the young boy a little for this. Finally, a responsible student, even if it wasn't for their schoolwork.

"Can't say." Danny replied.

"What _can_ you say?"

"Not much."

"Can you say if Mr. Fenton is uninjured?"

Danny shook his head.

"Any reason you're not saying anything?"

"I already told you, he told me not to tell." Danny responded.

"Mr. Phantom, if he's hurt, we have to know."

"I promised, though."

Lancer gave the kid a hard look, although Phantom seemed to think nothing of it. Ms. Manson and Mr. Foley were right, this kid _was _stubborn. Finally, he sighed in defeat.

"Can you at least tell me if he's safe?" Lancer pleaded.

"Yeah. He's safe. Don't worry, I made sure." Danny assured.

Not wanting to give his teacher any more time to think, he walked off down the hallway at a hastened pace. He-well, Danny Phantom-had gym next. Oh crud. Danny nervously made his way to the gymnasium. What was he supposed to do? Having paranormal strength and all, gym would be really awkward. He could always leave and blame it on a ghost attack, but that would only work for so long.

Unfortunately, Danny didn't have to think any more about the issue because Teslaff was waiting for him outside the gym. Lucky him.

"Phantom." She barked, causing the boy to jump a little. Danny nervously walked over to her. Danny could name ten ghosts that were less scary than her, not counting his allies.

"Yeah." He managed to say. He mentally smacked himself for sounding so pathetic.

"The school would like me to inform you that you are still required to participate in the normal gym class unless agreed otherwise. Ghost powers are not allowed." She reported. Danny nodded in understanding. "Also, you will be treated no different than any other student, although the tasks may be…amped up a little."

"Didn't expect anything less." Danny confirmed.

"Good. Now go get changed." Teslaff ordered. She said this with an unintentional friendliness, though. Phantom was being much more agreeable than she thought he'd be. After all, this kid must have been through heck between the fans, suddenly being back in school, and who knows what else.

Danny flashed her a quick smile before disappearing through the gym doors. At least _someone_ was treating him normal. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case of everyone else. He was never happier to have the power to be invisible in his life.

When Danny was finished changing, he ran out where everyone was lined up against the wall. Yes, the Casper High gym uniform did look strange on him. A few people had to suppress giggles at how foreign it looked. Although…half of the girls weren't minding too much if you know what I'm saying.

"Okay, Phantom, Manson, Foley, this side of the gym." Teslaff ordered, pointing to the half she was currently on.

The trio followed orders while exchanging confused expressions. They turned to face the larger crowd on the other side of the room once they reached the wall.

"Everyone else, **DODGEBALL**!" the gym teacher shouted, tossing a bin of balls into the arena.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker's expressions all turned to shock as they were suddenly pummeled with balls. Danny ducked as at least ten balls came hurdling his way. Amazingly, he was able to dodge all of them swiftly and with a grace that he wasn't normally known for. He watched as Tucker was hit and made his way to the side of the gym, joining the members of the opposite team that Sam had hit.

"Anytime you want to help out!" Sam shouted.

The ghost boy quickly avoided yet another round of balls by doing a quick duck-somersault-grab the ball-and stand back up routine. Danny instantly fired the ball, making sure to use only enough strength to get it across the gym. Any harder and he might accidentally hurt someone. Luckily, the ball flew across the gym and hit Dash.

The number of kids was shrinking drastically. The other side had less than half of its original players.

"Hey ghost boy," Sam teased "Time to kick it up a notch?"

"You got it!" Danny agreed, a smile plastered on his tan face. He was actually…enjoying this.

Sam began firing balls as fast as she could, Danny doing the same. They stood a few yards apart. One by one the other team faded until there were only a few kids left and hardly any balls on their side. While Sam turned to get a ball, someone whipped a ball in her direction.

"Sam, watch out!" Danny shouted.

It was no use, the ball was coming too fast. Thinking quickly, Danny picked up the closest ball and threw it at the other ball, knocking it of coarse.

"Thanks!" Sam called back.

"No problem!" Danny replied, firing another ball.

It hit. Two left.

Sam fired a ball at one of the kids. It went too fast for the student to dodge it.

One Left.

The two searched for more balls to throw, but there weren't any left on their side.

"Danny, we're out of balls!" Sam shouted to her sole teammate.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Danny remarked sarcastically.

Mikey was, surprisingly, the only one left. One scrawny nerd against one super-human ghostly hero and an athletically gifted Goth. The odds were in his favor.

A loud whistle echoed throughout the large gymnasium. "Time's up!" Ms. Teslaff shouted. "Phantom and Manson are the winners."

"I'd say it was a tie." Danny suddenly spoke up.

Everyone turned to give him weird glances. Who the heck argued against their own victory? Sam just gave him a knowing smile, though.

"Alright. Tie!" Teslaff declared. "Class dismissed!"

Everyone began their way back to the changing rooms. Danny noticed Mikey run up to him.

"W-Why'd you do that?" Mikey asked nervously. This _was_ Danny Phantom after all.

"Do what?" Danny wondered, a small smile still gracing his features.

"Call it a tie. You guys won."

"Technically, we didn't win. We never knocked out the other side completely." He ghost boy responded.

"Oh. Well…um…thanks." The scrawny boy thanked with a little smile.

Danny just returned the smile before turning back to his friends.

"You know, you're _way_ too nice sometimes." Sam commented, not that she minded too much.

"Yeah, I know." Danny replied.

* * *

Danny was in his locker, gathering his stuff to go home. He had moved his stuff from Danny _Fenton's_ locker to Danny _Phantom's_ locker between classes when no one was looking. That way, no one would be wondering why he was grabbing stuff out of the wrong locker. He slammed the door shut to see Paulina leaning right behind him, giving him the most attractive look she could manage. 

Well, this was going to be buckets of fun.

* * *

**C'mon! You all knew that she'd be all over him eventually.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Some of you might find this funny; I was more than half-way to posting Chapter 23 before I realized that I hadn't posted 22 yet! Although, this is good news for you guys because it means that I'll be posting 23 tomorrow. Yay!**

* * *

"Hi, ghost boy." She purred flirtatiously.

"Hi, Paulina." He returned, unaffected by her silky voice and attractive smile. He got over her a while ago. She was one of the shallowest people he had ever met. Like Sam said "If you mean could I stand in a puddle full of you and not get my feet wet, then yeah."

"You know, I think it's really cool that you're going here now." She commented, still using _**that**_ voice.

"Mm-hm." Danny muttered, moving away from her and toward the door.

Unfortunately, Paulina followed him so closely that she was almost stepping on his heels. "And I was wondering if maybe you'd like to hang out sometime."

"Sorry, can't." Danny replied. He wasn't actually sorry, though. He'd rather go out with Valerie, or Sam….wait, where did _**that**_ come from?

The Latina looked taken-aback. No boy had _ever_ turned her down before. "A-are you sure?"

"He already said that he can't." Sam stepped in, looking none too happy.

"Back off." Paulina demanded. "He can answer for himself."

"I believe he already did." Sam retorted.

"Well maybe he changed his mind." The princess snapped.

"Or maybe you should take a hint." Valerie cut in.

"Shut it, Gray. This is between me and Manson." The popular girl seethed.

"Well now, it's between you, Sam, and _me_." The African American girl corrected. "And the odds aren't in your favor."

"Please, you two are both just jealous that he likes _me_ better." Paulina hissed.

"Dude, aren't you going to stop them?" Tucker asked Danny, loud enough for the surrounding crowd to hear. They were wondering the same thing. Did Phantom _enjoy_ watching the girls fight over him? Most guys did, so why should Phantom be any different?

"Sam's in that fight." He pointed out.

"Good point." Tucker agreed.

Everyone around, with the exception of the three girls, nodded in understanding and took a cautious step back. You _definitely_ didn't want to get Manson mad.

"_Likes you better_?!" Sam screeched. "Who says he likes you at all?!"

"Who _doesn't_ like me?" The Latina scoffed.

"Right now, _I_ don't." Valerie spoke up. "You're one of the shallowest people on earth. I don't understand how _anyone_ could like you, let alone Danny."

"I am _not_ shallow!" the girl defended.

"I bet you don't even know _anything_ about him!" Sam shouted. How could this witch practically state that her and Phantom were meant to be when she had no idea what he was really like?

"I do too!"

"Oh, yeah? What's his favorite color?" Sam smirked.

Paulina was startled by the question. How was she supposed to know that? "Uh…well…it's green of course." She guessed. He _did_ have green eyes and green energy, so it would only make sense that his favorite color was green, right?

"Sorry, wrong answer." The Goth responded.

"Okay, this is going too far." Danny decided to himself. Then, out loud, he said "Hello? Do I have any say in what goes on in _my_ life?"

This got the three to shut up, embarrassment taking over. It was one thing to fight about a guy, it was another to do it right in front of him.

Danny took a deep breath. "First of all, no, Paulina, I'm not going to go out with you."

The girl's pretty face twisted into a stunned expression.

"Second, I appreciate that you guys are fighting for _my_ rights, but I can handle things on my own."

Sam and Valerie gave him considerate looks. They _were_ acting a bit overprotective.

"Third…it's blue." Danny finished. With that said, he flew through the ceiling and into the sky. He felt like flying home today. Maybe it would help him clear his head. Right now, it looked like a jigsaw puzzle…_before_ it was solved.

* * *

Danny arrived home in no time at all. He was swamped. Today had been very tiring. Not to mention all of the homework he still had to do. 

The boy approached the huge brick eye-sore that was his house; Fenton Works. Tiredly, he swung open the door, only to be met face to face with his parents. And, uh-oh, they didn't look too happy. The teenage boy braced himself for impact.

"Daniel Fenton, I cannot _believe_ that you skipped school!" Maddie blared.

"And what's with telling Phantom to not say where you went?!" Jack added.

"I…" Danny started.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses! You are _grounded,_ young man!" Maddie reported disappointedly.

"But I…" The boy fumbled.

Maddie put up her hand to silence him. "Room. Now."

Danny obediently slumped up to his room. His leg gave a slight pang of pain every time he stepped, but it was a little better than before. It must have stated to heal already. After he had made it to his room, he flopped onto the bed, dropping his backpack beside him.

It was only a minute or two later when there was a knock on his door.

"Go away, Jazz!" He shouted, having not interest at all to talk to his over-analyzing sister.

The knocking sounded again. It didn't look like the person on the other side of the door was going to leave anytime soon.

"Fine. Come in." The boy moaned.

It wasn't Jazz that walked through, though. It was his Mom. She seemed like she had calmed herself down a little bit.

"Danny, I think we need to talk." She stated in a voice that could only be used by a mother.

Sighing tiredly, Danny sat up to make room for his Mom. She instantly took the seat next to him, as if he would change his mind at any moment. Her violet eyes stared into his troubled blue ones and Danny had to turn away from their intensity.

"Honey, what happened? Why did you skip school?" She asked in a concerned manner.

Oh, great. Now he was going to have to make something up.

"I…I don't know." He replied lamely.

Maddie could see that he was lying. He was hiding something, something he didn't want her to know.

"I know that's not true. Sweetie, I love you, and right now, I'm worried. You're always keeping part of your life a secret. Whatever it is, I'll understand." She soothed.

Way to lay on the guilt. This was one of those times that he wanted to tell her, but knew he couldn't. If she knew, she'd be more worried than she was now. This was for her own good, even if it meant sacrificing his.

Seeing that he wasn't going to give in, she pulled her son into a tight embrace. Too bad for Danny, though, that when she did this, she accidentally hit his leg. His bad leg. Hard enough to make him let out a little yelp of pain. Uh-oh.

"Danny, what's wrong?!" She fretted upon hearing the small sound of pain.

"N-nothing." He lied, smacking himself mentally.

His mother gave him a skeptic glare and placed her hands on her hips.

"What?!" He snapped.

"Danny, you will tell me what happened right this instant." She demanded.

"Nothing happened." He groaned, getting very fed-up with this.

The mother sighed. Her son was so stubborn. Inconspicuously, she scanned her son up and down, trying to seek out the wound. She then noticed how he had one leg off the ground slightly in a conscious effort to keep it suspended.

"Let me see your leg." She commanded him.

Danny seemed shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered. He put the opposite leg up on the bed and pulled his pant leg up. "See? Nothing."

"The other leg." She corrected.

She thought she heard him mutter something like "Darn it" under his breath. She had obviously caught him.

Danny lifted his injured leg onto the bed, laying it down softly as to reduce the pain. Gingerly, he rolled up the leg of his jeans, revealing the white bandaging.

"Danny, what happened?!"

* * *

**Anyone like the Sam/Paulina/Valerie fight? I hope that it met the expectations of those who asked for it.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay. _Now_ I can post Chapter 23.**

**Eh. Filler chapter-ish.**

_

* * *

_

_"Danny, what happened?!"_

"Well…" Oh darn it! What was the story that he told the class? Oh, right. "Phantom was in a ghost fight and I snuck outside to see if he needed help, but I accidentally got hit with a stray ghost ray."

"You went out _without_ any weapons or protection?" Maddie scolded.

"Well, I had the Fenton Thermos." Danny replied. Technically, that was the truth. He _did_ have the thermos, just as Danny Phantom.

"Just…don't do it again, okay? You could have gotten hurt much more than you did." The mother warned.

Danny nodded. "Okay." Yeah, right!

"There's just one more thing." Danny should have known that it was too good to be true. "Why didn't you go to the nurse?"

"Because…I didn't want anyone to know I was hurt." Danny responded. And the lie grows.

"Can I see?" Maddie requested.

"Huh?" Danny blurted cluelessly.

"You leg." The maternal figure clarified.

Uh-oh. What if she noticed that it wasn't a burn? What if it had already healed too much? What if…oh, what the heck! She wasn't going to let him off, anyway. He carefully unwrapped the bandages, the mutilated skin becoming more and more visible. Once it was completely off, he looked up to his mother. Oh, no.

"Daniel James Fenton! That looks like more than just getting hit with 'a stray ghost ray!'" Maddie shrieked, catching sight of his beaten leg. "It looks like it's almost broken!"

"Okay…so the blast knocked me into the wall." Again, technically the truth.

"Well, you are certainly not going to be moving on that leg any time soon. I'm going to go get some fresh bandages and call the school to let them know that you won't be going tomorrow and then I'm taking you to the hospital." The mother ranted.

"Mom, it's _fine_. I don't need to go to the hospital." Danny whined. He gave her the best innocent look he could manage.

"Alright, but if it keeps hurting you then I'm taking you, no questions about it." Maddie reluctantly agreed. "But I'm still getting new bandages."

Danny let a small smile creep onto his face. He was out of this one…for now.

* * *

Danny was lying in his bed, sheets covering his oh-so-manly pink pajamas. He shuddered as a puff of icy breath exited his mouth. Tiredly, the boy sat up and checked the clock.

"Come on! Three a.m.?!" He complained.

Pushing his body out of bed, he landed on the floor and changed into his ghost form. After the transformation was complete, he leaped through the wall using intangibility and floated in the open, night air. His bright green eyes did a quick scan of the area. His ghost sense was _never_ wrong so…where was the ghost?

Danny was soon answered with a blast to the back, sending him tumbling through the air. After regaining his balance, the boy whipped around to identify his enemy. Oh, great…

"I am the Box Ghost!" The blue-skinned ghost shouted. "And you shall beware, for I have acquired a new ability!"

"And you had to wake me up at three in the morning to tell me about it?" Danny groaned.

"Well…um…**YES**!" The ghost stuttered in his usual pathetic and uncertain way.

Danny put his hand to his mouth, covering a yawn. "So, why don't you say we get this over with quick so I can get to bed?"

"It shall never be over! For I, the Box Ghost, have a power so great that it will make you tremble in fear. And I shall win this fight and defeat you, Danny Phantom, once and for all!" The ghost babbled.

Monologue complete, the Box Ghost put his hands in front of him, palms facing each other only a few inches away. Pink energy began to form and take the shape of…well…a box. The ghost threw the cubes as Danny's eyes widened. He remembered those. The Box Ghost had used the before…actually, after. Ten years into the future.

The boxes of energy hit the still shocked Danny and sent him hurdling into the wall.

"Note to self; promote the Box Ghost to the threat list." Danny muttered as he peeled his body off the brick wall.

A wide grin split across the box-obsessed ghost's face. He had finally hit Phantom…and it felt great!

"Ha, ha!" He laughed almost menacingly.

Danny's face switched to a hard, battle-ready expression and he hit the ghost with ice beams.

"Who's laughing now?" The ghost teen mocked, watching as the ghost fell to the ground.

Before the ice smashed itself against the pavement, Danny took out the Fenton Thermos and sucked him up.

Danny yawned again. "At least now I can go back to sleep." His ghost sense was triggered again. "Or not."

* * *

"Mr. Phantom." Lancer urged. 

Due to his late night ghost fighting, Danny had fallen asleep on his desk only moments after he walked into the class.

"Mr. Phantom." Lancer tried again, only a little bit stronger.

Nothing.

"Daniel!" He shouted.

The ghostly teen showed absolutely no signs of hearing him.

"Mr. Lancer," Sam interrupted "I seriously doubt you're going to be able to wake him up. Trust me when I say; the phrase 'sleeping like the dead' has never been truer."

"And how do _you_ propose we wake him up. Ms. Manson?" Lancer questioned, slightly irritated with his relatively new student, a.k.a. Danny Phantom.

A maniacal grin suddenly split Tucker's face. "There's only one surefire way."

Both were now wearing evil smirks. This was going to be fun.

"1…2…3…" They counted together. Then, the two took a deep breath. "**GHOST**!!!"

Danny's glowing green eyes suddenly flew open and his body shot up.

"Ahhh! Where?!" He screamed, suddenly alert.

The whole class burst into uncontrollable laughter. Danny looked completely confused for a moment.

"Late night?" Sam asked through her giggles.

"Kinda." Danny replied, embarrassment taking over. He sunk low into his seat.

"Alright class, settle down." Lancer managed to command. "And Mr. Phantom, I suggest you get more rest if you're falling asleep in my class."

"It's not _my_ fault. Seriously, _who the heck wakes up at three a.m._?!" Danny responded, still sunken into his seat, but now pouting.

This earned another chorus of giggles.

"If you're done laughing now, I suggest we continue with the lesson. It looks like everyone's here today except…Mr. Fenton." Lancer noticed, adding an especially exasperated tone to "Mr. Fenton."

Danny tensed. Oh, crud! He forgot to make a duplicate. He quickly checked the surrounding area before making an invisible duplicate of himself and making it go outside. A few seconds later, Danny Fenton came running in through the door.

"Sorry, I'm late, Mr. Lancer. I forgot to set my alarm." He lied.

"I'll let you off the hook this time, Mr. Fenton, but I will _not_ refrain from giving you detention should it happen again." The overweight teacher decided.

"Thanks!" Danny uttered hastily before practically leaping into his seat.

"Well, now that we're all settled, we can _actually_ start learning." The teacher said in a slightly irritable manner. "Today, you will be expected to write a one page essay. The topic is emotion. You may pick any emotion of your choosing; happiness, sadness, fear, love, anger…"

"Well, this is going to be a lot of fun." Both Dannys muttered simultaneously.

* * *

The sound of the bell echoed through the small classroom, signaling the end of class. All of the students instantly grabbed their things and made for the door. 

"Mr. Fenton, Mr. Phantom, would you please come up here? I'd like to have a word with you two." Lancer implored, making both Dannys gulp with nervousness. All of Danny's experiences with being asked to come up to the teacher's desk had ended badly and he had a feeling that this one wouldn't be any different.

"Yes, Mr. Lancer?" They responded, stepping up to his desk in synchronization, a strange feature that the teacher was beginning to notice.

"You both wrote excellent papers." Lancer reported. The nearly identical Dannys let out their breath that neither had noticed they had been holding until now. "But would you care to explain how you managed to write _the same exact paper_?"

* * *

**Enough of a cliffie for you?**


	24. Chapter 24

**Here we go again!**

* * *

The Dannys tensed again. Darn it! Why hadn't they seen this coming? They were operating on the same mind so _of course_ they'd accidentally write the same paper.

"Well…I…we…" They stammered.

Lancer quirked an eyebrow. That was another thing; it had become extremely common for them to say the same thing at the same time. Their voices blended so perfectly, too. You could have almost sworn that they sounded exactly the same, not to mention the fact that they were the same height and had the same facial and body structure. Anyone who looked hard enough would think that they were twins, for crying out loud!

"We…don't know." They replied in defeat.

"You two wouldn't happen to be copying each other, would you?" He prodded. He was secretly wondering how far he could push before they'd snap.

"**No!**" They blurted in response.

"I'd never, never, _**never**_ cheat." Phantom huffed. The little incident with his future self made sure of that.

"Yeah, me neither." Fenton agreed.

Well, at least they stopped talking in unison. Anxiously, the educator gave them a quick scan, checking for any sign of nervousness, signaling that they were lying. He found none and his gaze quickly returned to their slightly offended faces.

"Would you two mind staying after school today?" Lancer requested.

"Something tells me that we don't really have a choice." Phantom responded, still a little irked.

"He means that we'll be there." Danny quickly amended.

With that, the two exited the room. Sam and Tucker immediately met them outside.

"What happened?" The two friends inquired curiously with a tinge of worry.

"I accidentally made both of us write the same paper and Mr. Lancer noticed. I think he's getting suspicious. He asked us to stay after school today." Danny _Phantom_ reported.

"That can't be good." Tucker stated bluntly.

"No kidding." Sam added sarcastically. "So, what are you planning to do?"

"I don't know. Just lie low, I guess." Danny responded uncertainly. How on Earth did he manage to get himself tangled up in these situations? "I'll be right back. I have to pull myself together before I run out of energy."

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Valerie asked, approaching the group.

"Nothing. Gotta go. Bye." Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom rushed out before running down the hall. Oh, man! Did she hear him? Well, he wasn't sticking around to find out. Besides, he was beginning to feel really tired.

"What's with them?" Valerie questioned with concern, staring after the two boys.

"I…think it was something about a ghost fight." Sam lied.

"Okay." She responded, a little unsure about that answer. "I was going to ask what happened in Lancer's class."

"Huh? Oh, right. Lancer…" The Goth started, but had no idea what to say next.

"…was just giving them a lecture about rules." Tucker rushed. "You know, since Phantom fell asleep and Danny came in late."

"Well, that makes sense." Valerie concluded, shrugging off their very odd behavior.

"See ya!" Sam and Tucker shouted before running off to their next class.

* * *

"Ah, would you two take a seat over there?" Lancer motioned, pointing to two empty seats. 

It was the end of the day and Danny had duplicated himself so he could attend his meeting with Lancer after school. Danny really had to learn how to use his duplication better.

The two nodded and walked over to the empty desks. After a moment, the teacher rose from his desk and stood over the two students. He got that odd sensation again; the strange feeling of standing over Danny Phantom. Phantom was so much stronger than he was and saved the town on a daily basis, yet he had the power now. Something else was off, too. He was beginning to get the same vibe from Danny Fenton as well. That was unexplainable.

Quickly, the educator snapped out of his mental trance and scrutinized the two. "You both know why you are here, so I will ask again. How did you two write the same paper?"

"We already said we don't know." Phantom responded, his patience shortening.

"I find that very hard to believe." Lancer admitted.

"Well, it's the truth!" Fenton blurted.

The overweight teacher quirked an eyebrow at the boy's strange behavior. Fenton usually didn't act up this much during class. Although, Phantom didn't either and he knew what happened while the ghost _wasn't_ in school. Maybe Fenton was the same way. Most of the student body would see Fenton and Phantom as complete opposites, but the similarities were beginning to show.

"Alright, even though it's virtually _impossible_ for you two to have written the same paper, I'll let you off if you can describe what drove you to write it." Lancer announced. Surely this would get one of them. "But, I want you to explain it separately so that you can't take each other's ideas. Understand?"

Fenton and Phantom nodded solemnly. This was _definitely_ not going to be fun. Or easy.

"Let's start with Fenton, shall we?" Lancer decided. Phantom's response would probably be more pain-filled. He had better warm himself up for the challenge. Plus, Phantom would most likely take longer. "Oh, and don't worry Mr. Phantom. I'm putting up the ghost shield." Lancer assured with a smirk, only causing Danny to huff and fold his arms, much to the teacher's satisfaction.

Lancer left with Danny _Fenton_, putting the ghost shield up on his way out. The ghost shield was a new attachment, used only for emergencies. As soon as Lancer left, Danny shut his eyes tight, hoping that he'd still be able to communicate with his duplicate.

"Come on. Please let me see _something_." He muttered to himself, concentrating.

Finally, an image erupted across his vision. It was slightly blurry, but he could still make everything out.

"You may start explaining, Mr. Fenton." Lancer ordered. His voice sounded so distant to the Danny who was in control.

Focusing, Danny made his copy reply. "I wrote about love because I was thinking about my family and friends and how lost I'd be without them."

"That is a very unique perspective. Most students would write according to their crazed teenage hormones." Lancer commented.

"Yeah, well, that's just me." Danny responded edgily.

"I guess you may go." The teacher dismissed. There wasn't much else he'd get out of Fenton. "Please tell Mr. Phantom to come in. Oh, and shut off the ghost shield."

Danny nodded and walked back. Once the boy had entered the room and shut off the ghost shield, Danny let go of his control over his duplicate. The copy stood there dumbly. Sighing, Danny got up and walked out the door toward the room where Lancer was waiting for him. His mind raced through a million different responses. Danny's head was still buzzing as he entered the room and sat down in the chair in front of Lancer.

"Your turn." Lancer stated. "I must say, I was surprised when I read your essay…which is why I'm even more suspicious."

Danny had to restrain himself from letting out a low growl. "I already told you, I don't cheat."

Lancer didn't miss the harsh tone in the boy's voice. It scared him a little. More than a little. The educator tried his best to hide his fear. "Then please explain why you wrote that paper."

"I…I wrote it because…I was…remembering." Danny half-lied. All he needed to do was twist the truth just a little bit.

"Remembering?" Prodded Lancer, confusion tinting his voice.

"Remembering my life before I became a ghost…and also everything that's happened since." Danny purposefully tilted his head downward and made his voice sound sad. Some of it actually _did_ make him sad, not that he'd show it.

"Oh." Lancer uttered, sympathizing the boy in front of him. It was so incredibly easy to forget that Phantom was…dead, that he had a normal life once, how twisted his life was now and how hard it must be. From Phantom's expression, he wasn't up to saying much more. So, Lancer decided to just ask a few more questions. "Wouldn't that be sadness?"

Danny shook his head. "No. I remember my friends and family…how much I loved them…and how the ones who know who I actually am still stayed with me even after…the accident."

The teacher was positive that he'd made the right choice interviewing Fenton first. Phantom was kinda…morbid. Although, he guessed dying would make _anyone_ gloomy. Not wanting to torture the boy anymore, he decided that he'd better let him go. "You're excused."

Danny Phantom nodded and left, leaving the teacher there to think things through. If by some bizarre chance, they didn't copy off one another, then how did they write the same paper? Lancer sighed and pulled out their identical papers. Just another item to add to the list of similarities.

* * *

**In case you're wondering; yes, I'm trying to build up tension. Review please!**


	25. Chapter 25

**I feel so horrible! I haven't updated this in forever! I guess I was too preoccupied with everything else. Sorry!**

* * *

Danny absorbed his duplicate and turned into his human self after checking to make sure the coast was clear. Then, he proceeded to walk down the halls, head hanging. This was going to drive him insane! Fenton, Phantom, Fenton, Phantom, all the time! He was going to snap! How much longer could he keep this up? Lancer was so close back there!

As Danny deepened into his inner musings, he began to ignore everything around him. Unfortunately, that was perfect for running into a certain someone. Danny hit the stranger with an "oof!" and fell to the floor. A gasp escaped his mouth as he realized who he'd knocked into. His expression quickly twisted into anger.

"What do want, _Vlad_!" He demanded angrily, leaping to his feet.

"Oh, nothing." Vlad replied calmly. "I'm just enjoying the show."

Danny huffed and walked past the elder half-ghost, fists clenched.

"And how is your little duplication act going? Had a close call back there, didn't you?" Vlad sneered.

Danny spun on heel, fuming. Anymore and he'd attack again! But this time, there wouldn't be any poison involved.

"No thanks to you!" He shouted. "Why can't you just stay out of my life?!"

"Because, Daniel, this is not the life you should be leading."

Even Vlad's _tone_ and _voice_ was enough to get the boy's blood boiling. How could he always stay so** annoyingly** _calm_?!

"Well, for your information, I like my life this way! Sure, it'd be nice if I didn't have to pull off two identities at the same time, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! And there's nothing that you could ever say or do to make me give it up and join you!" Screamed Danny, his eyes blaring ghostly green.

"Ah, there's that temper of yours. You know, you really need to learn how to control that. Someday, you might let something…slip." The sinister man almost laughed out the last word.

Danny was barely under control. He had to turn away from his arch-enemy to keep himself back. One more word and…

"You never know when someone might be listening. You wouldn't want anyone to find out your little secret, now would you?"

"That's it!" Danny shouted furiously before rashly transforming into his ghost self and throwing himself at Vlad, who quickly dodged.

"A little irked, are we?" Taunted Vlad.

"You have no idea!" Danny shouted heatedly, wanting nothing more than to land this man in the hospital.

Danny fired a ghost ray at Vlad. Said billionaire was thrusted back into the wall, a cruel smirk on his face.

"Daniel Phantom!" A feminine voice roared.

Shocked, Danny turned around to see his principal glaring at him. He then angrily glanced back at Vlad who was pretending to be hurt. The man let out a fake groan, attracting the woman's attention. She rushed over.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Masters, I have no idea what's gotten into him." She apologized while "helping" Vlad to his feet. She gave the ghost boy a hard look.

"I'll be…fine…just as long…as you keep that…_demon_…away from me." He fake gasped.

"_I'm_ the demon?!" Danny snarled. "_You're_ the one who's intent on ruining what's _left_ of my life!"

Vlad "painfully" and "exhaustedly" detached himself from the principal. "I'd…better be…going now…before he…attacks again." The old man began to limp down the hall, casting one last smirk at Danny.

"I swear, if you come within ten feet of me again, I'll make you full ghost!" Danny furiously claimed.

"Mr. Phantom!" The principal reprimanded. "What is _wrong_ with you?! That is the second time you have _attacked_ the mayor!"

"What's _wrong_ with me? What's _wrong_ with me?!" Danny blared. "What's **wrong** is that he started it and you still blame me! What's **wrong** is that you don't even _know_ the things that he's done to me! What's **wrong** is that everyone expects me to be perfect! To never do _anything_ wrong and to be able to handle _everything_ that's thrown at me! Well, you know what?! I'm sick of it! I'm **sick** of having to be the strong one all the time! I'm **sick** of everyone's expectations that I can't always meet! I'm **sick** of trying my best, but having it never be good enough! And I'm **sick** of being blamed and not having _any_ control over my life!" Danny screamed so hard that he practically unleashed a Ghostly Wail. By this point, he had to fight back the angry and tired tears that were threatening to pour down his face. "So I'm **sorry** if I can't be perfect and get angry sometimes! And that I'm _obviously_ not good enough for you!"

The authoritative woman just stared in shock. For a few seconds, her mind was desperately attempting to sort out all of that new information and the massive display of emotion. Plus, he was almost _crying_! Phantom _never_ cried! What was worse, she never even considered most of what he'd just said. No wonder he snapped!

"Daniel…" She began.

"Just…leave me alone." He interrupted, running past her before launching himself through the ceiling.

She sighed and picked up her phone, dialing a number. "Hello? Jasmine, do you think that you could find Phantom and talk to him? And could you also come by afterwards? Thanks. Goodbye." She hung up the phone. If anyone could get through to him, it was Jazz.

* * *

Jazz stood outside her brother's door. He had locked himself in right when he came home. She softly knocked on the door twice. 

"Danny, it's Jazz, can I come in?" She requested politely.

"No! Go away, Jazz!" He shouted from the other side.

The girl sighed. She knew that he would say that. "Danny, please, I want to talk to you."

"No!" He screeched.

"I'm not going to stop until you let me in." She claimed.

She heard a grunt and then footsteps from the other side. Her angry and tired brother opened the door.

"What?" He demanded.

"You're upset. I want to talk to you. Tell me what happened." She said calmly, but not the irritating calm of Vlad.

Danny suppressed a groan as he retreated to his bed, his sister following him and sitting by his side. "There's no way you're going to drop this until I tell you, huh?"

"Nope." Replied Jazz positively.

The boy sighed. "I was walking down the hall after detention…"

She cut him off. "Detention? For what?"

Danny seemed annoyed by her interruption. "I accidentally made my duplicate write the same essay that I did. Lancer caught us and held us after." He explained. "_Anyway_, I was walking down the hall when I accidentally bumped into Vlad. He…he just said some things that made me really mad and I attacked. But then Principal Ishiyama came and Vlad pretended that I hurt him. She got really mad at me and then I yelled at her before flying off."

"What did you say?" Jazz interrogated coolly.

"A bunch of stuff. I don't even remember all of it. I remember saying something about how Vlad was just out to get me and how I was never good enough for everyone." Danny replied sadly.

"You _know_ that's not true." She assured, forcing him to look at her. "Yeah, Vlad's a creep, but not everyone knows that yet. Maybe someday they will. And I understand that you were angry, those things happen. You're only a kid after all, something a lot of people don't notice when they look at your ghost form. But one thing that I want you to know, you _are_ good enough. You're better than most of them deserve. They look up to you, though. You always make it _seem_ like you're perfectly fine and invincible, so they expect a lot from you. You're their hero, Danny. Most people ignore the fact that even their hero isn't perfect."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just…it's not fair. I always get blamed." Danny told her.

Jazz gave him a comforting smile. "Before you go and blame her, consider it for a moment. Replay the scene from her point of view. Who would you have believed?"

Danny thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "I guess I did look pretty guilty. Especially with Vlad faking being hurt. It just reminds me that some people don't trust me completely yet."

"_Make_ them trust you. You're an amazing person, Danny. I want everyone else to see that too." The older sister advised. She got up off the bed. "Now, I've got to go and tell Principal Ishiyama that the problem's solved."

"Hey, Jazz?" Danny stopped her before she walked out the door. She turned around. "Thanks."

"Anytime, little brother." She assured with a smile before leaving.

Danny couldn't help but smile as well.

* * *

**See? No cliffie!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Trust me, this chapter is ****MUCH better than the last one.**

* * *

The next morning, Danny Phantom flew into his English class, completely exhausted.

"Ghost fight, I presume?" Mr. Lancer asked.

The student nodded and tiredly took his seat.

"As I was saying…" Lancer was cut off by another student running through the door looking just as tired as Phantom.

"Mr. Fenton. What is _your_ excuse?" The teacher questioned irritably.

"My Dad wouldn't stop talking about his new ghost invention." Danny's duplicate gasped.

"Fine. I'll let you off the hook if you can answer this question: Who wrote 'The Raven'?"

"Edgar Allen Poe." Danny spat out incredibly fast. His classmates gave him strange looks. Fenton answered a question right? "What? Sam would kill me if I didn't know that."

The class glanced at the Goth girl who gave a triumphant smile.

"Looks like you're off the hook, Mr. Fenton. Now…" Lancer continued, but was cut off by a loud knock on the door. "_Surviving the __Applewhites_! Who on Earth is it now?!" The teacher cried as he stomped to the door and opened it, only to have it fly open in his face. Two bulky men dressed in white suits and wielding ecto-guns stood in the doorway.

"Uh-oh." Danny Phantom muttered spotting them. Before he could turn invisible or make a single move, the Guys in White agents grabbed him and cuffed him. In all of the chaos, Danny's duplicate vanished.

"Daniel Phantom, under orders of Mayor Masters, you are hereby under arrest." Operative K (the dark-skinned one) reported.

"What?! I didn't even do anything!" Danny protested as they shoved him across the classroom.

"You are charged for assaulting Mayor Masters, resistance against arrest on several previous occasions, firing at an officer…" O started.

"Do you guys even _count_ as officers? And do I have _any_ rights _at all_?" Danny snapped.

"…_b__ack-talking _an officer, and several other crimes." O continued. "As a ghost, you have no human rights. You are not allowed a trial. All further attempts at escape and resistance will only add to your punishment."

"How can it _add_ to my punishment?! You people are just going to dissect me or some other inhumane torture!" Danny shouted angrily, struggling against his captors.

"Quiet, Phantom. You're only making things worse for yourself." K warned.

"Hold on a minute." Sam stopped them.

"Oh, great. It's that 'warrant' girl." O complained.

"Where's your legal authorization?" She asked.

Operative O proudly handed her their authorization, but a frown spread on his face as the girl smiled.

"This isn't valid." She stated.

"What?!" The agents boomed together.

"It says here that "Daniel _Phantom_ is under arrest." She stated.

"So?" K questioned.

Danny caught onto her drift. He smirked. "That's not my real name." He stated, much to the shock of everyone.

"What are you blabbering about, Phantom?" O demanded.

"Phantom isn't my actual last name. I never legally changed it." He responded deviously.

The two growled. "Listen, kid, we don't _care_ if Phantom is your real last name or not. You've been long overdue to be taken in. Now, you're coming with us." O grunted, pulling a struggling Phantom behind him.

"Oh, no, I'm not!" Danny denied, giving a hard kick to the two operatives. They accidentally released him.

"Danny, run!" Sam and Tucker screamed.

The ghost boy didn't need to be told twice. Heart racing, he sped out of the classroom, hands still cuffed. He heard the officers race out behind him.

"Get him!" K yelled. Instantly, two more agents stepped in front of Danny.

An ecto-gun was fired from behind him. Thinking quickly, the boy ducked and the shot hit the two in front of him. Taking this opportunity, he dashed down the hall and out through the front door of the school. Unfortunately, he was only met with about ten more members all wielding ecto-guns. All pointed at him. In this moment of shock, the boy froze. Big mistake. He was immediately grabbed by the two agents that were following him. He fought against the two, but it was to no avail. A man who looked like the leader of the GiW stepped up until he was face to face with Phantom.

"Looks like we've finally caught you, Phantom." The man noted, earning a snarl from Danny.

"That's _Danny_ Phantom to you, creep." The boy snapped viscously.

The man ignored him. "After years of trying to catch you, we finally have you. You should feel proud that you've evaded us for this long. But now, you're coming with us and there are about a million experiments back at the lab with your name on it."

The protesting ghost boy growled at the leader.

"Oh, a fighter, are you? A little rebellious? Trust me, kid, one day in the lab and that spirit of yours will be broken like glass." The head agent hissed, a cruel smirk on his tanned skin.

The men began pushing him into the back of a white truck. He was brutally shoved inside it and the door closed a moment later, leaving the teen in the dark. Blindly, he found a wall and leaned himself up against it. The engine roared to life, causing the vehicle to vibrate. The truck began bumping along a road.

"I sure hope Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and Valerie can get me out of this." He pleaded.

The truck suddenly hit a bump and he was tossed face first onto the floor. He painfully got back up and found the wall again. Faint laughter came from the front of truck. The agents must have heard him slam against the floor. The ride continued for a few minutes before the vehicle lurched to a stop. Danny could vaguely hear confused shouts from the front. Before he knew what was going on, banging, shouting, and the noises of ecto-gun shots erupted around him.

"What's happening?" He asked himself, knowing that he'd get no reply.

A moment later, light sliced into the dark cabin. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw Sam standing at the end.

"What are you waiting for?! We have to go! Now!" She ordered him.

The boy clumsily climbed out of the chamber. His Goth friend grabbed his arm and pulled him through the field of agents. Among them, he spotted his parents and Valerie (who was in full hunting gear). Jazz and Tucker stood by Jazz's car. All four hopped in and Jazz drove off right away.

"Thanks, guys." Danny sighed gratefully.

"You're welcome. Now turn around so we can get those cuffs off of you." Sam ordered.

"It's a good thing that they use electronic handcuffs." Tucker muttered, hacking the cuffs with his PDA. In a moment, the cuffs snapped open. Danny rubbed his sore wrists.

"Mom and Dad told us to take you back to Fenton Works." Jazz informed her little brother. "They said that they'd be there in a few minutes."

"But won't the Guys in White just chase them there?" Danny inquired.

"Once they get back, they're going to access the new security feature. It's designed to block out _anything_." The red-head responded, still keeping her eyes on the road. She quickly pulled up to their house.

The four teens leaped out of the car and ran into the house, locking the door behind them. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looks like I'll have to lay low for a while." Danny noticed.

"No kidding." Sam responded sarcastically.

"That's not going to be easy." Tucker stated. "I heard them yell that they had a devise to track you down. And if I'm right, it's going to work whether you're human or ghost."

* * *

**How was it? And as a fun fact: In Reality Trip, there were 17 GIW agents waiting for Danny at his house after he was revealed. Two were Operatives K and O while the others were all dressed in hazard suits.**

**In case you're wondering, yes, I did actually count them. I'm that insane. (Like I memorized that in Shades of Grey, Danny stated that there were 279 girls at Casper High. "Two-hundred-seventy-nine girls at our school and he has to have a crush on the one with the weapons and the grudge.")**


	27. Chapter 27

**It is time for me to update once again.**

**Filler, filler, filler, filler, filler.**

* * *

Danny frowned at this. "Great. Now I have to make up a reason why Danny _Fenton_ can't go to school either."

"Well, maybe we could just tell your parents that the Guys and White might think that you're overshadowing Danny _Fenton_ because he accidentally got some of your ectoplasm in him." Sam suggested.

"And _how_ would we explain how he got my ectoplasm in him?" Danny questioned.

"I'll just tell them that both of you got hurt and while I was cleaning up the blood and ectoplasm, some of it accidentally got exchanged." Sam replied, satisfied with her answer. Good thing too, because Danny's parents and Valerie came bursting through the door.

Jack rushed over to the refrigerator and pressed a red button on the inside of the door. In moments, thick metal plated covered the entire house, protecting it from intruders.

"Thanks for getting me out of there." Danny told them.

"You're welcome, but we've got to find a way to hide you from their trackers. The only place I can think of that they _might_ not work is the Ghost Zone, but…" Maddie responded with tinges of panic.

"But if I go in there I'll get beaten to a pulp by my enemies." Danny finished for her gloomily.

"Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" Sam interrupted. "We have another problem, too. If their trackers track Danny _Phantom_, then they're also going to track Danny _Fenton_."

"What?!" Jack bellowed.

"Why?" Maddie questioned in puzzlement.

"Well, there was this incident and some of Phantom's ectoplasm accidentally got into Danny." Sam lied.

"But Danny's body would have killed off the ectoplasm. The only way that it would be able to stay with him is if it was bonded to his DNA." Maddie argued.

They had to think quickly. Jazz instantly thought of something. "Mom, remember the Fenton Portal accident?"

"Yes." The mother replied, anxious to hear what her daughter had to say.

"We have this theory. We think that the accident made Danny's body more adaptable to ectoplasm. So when Phantom's ectoplasm got into him, his body didn't reject it." Jazz fibbed-well, kinda.

"Well, then we'd better get Danny here, fast." Jack boomed.

Danny Fenton suddenly walked into the room.

"I'm already here." He told them. Obviously, Danny had pulled off his little duplication trick.

"Great. We'll get started on a device to scramble your signatures so that they can't track you two." Maddie told them before leading Jack down to the lab.

"Wait a minute." Valerie said, looking back and forth between the two Dannys. "So _you,_" She pointed to Danny Fenton "have Phantom's ectoplasm in you?"

"Yep." Danny Fenton sighed.

"So does that mean that _you,_" She pointed to Phantom "might have Danny Fenton's _blood_ in you?"

Danny didn't know what to say. If they had somehow looked at his DNA, they'd probably find traces of Danny Fenton. "We're not sure." He decided at last.

Valerie's mind was so jumbled right now. This was some pretty strange information. However, her thoughts were intruded by a loud bang coming from outside.

"Alright, Fentons. Open up!" The awaiting GiW squad yelled.

"I'm going to see how it looks out there." Phantom informed them. He attempted at phasing through the wall. Key word: _attempted_. Instead, he crashed into it and fell to the ground.

"Like I said; it's designed to keep _anything_ out, _especially_ ghosts and ecto-energy." Jazz repeated, helping the white-haired teen up.

"It would've been nice to know that _before_ I crashed into the wall." Phantom responded, rubbing his head.

Maddie came up the stairs from the lab.

"Sam, Tucker, Red Huntress," Maddie called. "We have to get you three home. We can open up the secret exit we programmed for a few moments, but that's all. You'll have to sneak away back to your houses."

"But what about Danny…and…um…Danny." Sam argued.

"They'll be fine here. We'll let you know when it's safe to visit." Maddie told them. "Now follow me."

The three teens reluctantly obeyed, casting glances at the Dannys as they disappeared down the stairs.

A minute later, Maddie returned. "Phantom, you should probably call your adoptive parents. You need to tell them that you're staying here for a little while."

Oh, right. Danny had forgotten about that. Everyone still thought that he had been adopted by a human family.

"Danny, can you show Phantom where the phone is?" Maddie requested.

Danny's duplicate nodded and the original Phantom made his copy walk to where the phone was. Danny noticed Maddie watching. Apparently, she was making sure that he called. He picked up the phone and pretended to dial some numbers. He put the phone to his ear and imitated that he was waiting.

"Um, hi, it's Danny. I can't really come back for a while." He paused, as if he was waiting for someone on the other end. "Because the Guys in White found me and tried to capture me so the Fentons are letting me stay with them until we can get this all worked out." He paused again. "Yeah." Pause. "Okay, bye." He hung up.

"Why don't you three go upstairs? This could take a while." The mother suggested.

Danny, Phantom, and Jazz followed orders and went up to the second floor. There, Danny recalled his duplicate and turned back to his human self.

"Want me to stay with you?" Jazz offered.

"Nah. I'll just hang out in my room." Danny answered.

Jazz gave him a sympathetic smile before heading to her own room.

* * *

A few hours later, soft footsteps sounded on the stairs. Danny pulled off his little trick as his Mom entered the room. The two sat sleepily at the base of the bed, reading comic books. Maddie thought it looked pretty cute. They could've passed for brothers. 

"Hey, Mom." Danny greeted with a yawn.

"It's getting pretty late. You two should get some rest." Maddie recommended, gazing at their tired faces.

"What about you?" Phantom inquired.

"Jack and I are going to stay up late working on the Fenton Signature Scrambler." She announced.

"But you need rest, too." He argued.

Maddie had to hold back a soft chuckle at how Phantom was worrying about her and her husband. "We'll go to sleep in a few hours, okay?"

The ghost boy nodded.

"We're a little short on space right now. Do you two mind sharing a room?" She asked.

They shook their heads identically.

"Okay. You two can set up the inflatable mattress. I'll be back in ten minutes to make sure that you're sleeping and not reading more comic books." She teased, walking out the door.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Maddie came back to the room her son and the ghost boy were sleeping in. She peeked through the door. The lights were off and she could see both her son's black hair and Phantom's white peeking out from under their separate covers. She smiled before closing the door and leaving. 

The moment she left, the Dannys got out of bed and turned the lights on. Danny Fenton sucked up his duplicate and began stuffing pillows and sheets under the blankets on his ghost half's inflatable bed. Once there was a person-sized lump, he flicked the lights off and went back to bed.

* * *

**Fun-fact 2: In Reality Trip, the sequence in which the gems are pressed it form, life, fantasy or, color wise, yellow, red, blue.**

**I'm going to drill these into your brains, people.**

**Hope you enjoyed this segment.**


	28. Chapter 28

**This one is dedicated to ShatterMyMuse, who's cat just died. Hope this makes you feel better.**

* * *

The next morning, Danny woke up slowly. He glanced at his clock and a surge of panic rushed through him when he saw the time.

"10:27!" He exclaimed.

He barely had enough time to create a duplicate before his parents burst into the room.

"Have a nice sleep?" Maddie joked, seeing their expressions. "You know, you two sure are sound sleepers. Apparently running from the Guys in White can take a lot out of a person. Or a ghost."

The two smiled sheepishly.

"Guess what?! We're almost done with the Fenton Signature Scrambler!" Jack boomed proudly.

"But it's still too big and bulky to carry around. You two will have to stay here until we can create smaller versions." The mother added.

Jazz came in. "You're finally awake? Jeez, it's been, like, four hours."

"Jazz?" The two Dannys questioned.

"I couldn't go to school today because of the house still being locked up." She explained. "Now why don't you two come down and grab some breakfast?"

Before they could say a single word, the sister marched up to them, grabbed them by the arm, and dragged them down the stairs awkwardly. They waited until their parents were safely back in the lab before Danny could form into one so that they wouldn't be feeding the same person twice.

Danny sat down and ate until he heard his parents banging around downstairs. He heard a few victorious shouts and then some stirring. It sounded like his parents were coming.

The parents bounded up the stairs, a big metal machine with them. By the time they reached the top, there were two Dannys at the table. Their son had a partially full bowl of cereal in front of him.

"It's done!" Jack shouted happily, displaying the invention.

"That's great!" The three teens exclaimed.

"Now all we have to do is turn it on and you two will be invisible to the trackers." Maddie started, flipping the "on" switch. The machine lit up.

"Is it working?" Human Danny asked.

"Only one way to find out." She stated, taking out a tracker.

"No ghosts detected." It confirmed.

"Yes!" The two boys shouted.

"Now I just want to make sure that it _does_ track both of you." She told the two. She bent down and turned the contraption off.

"Two ghosts detected. Ghosts directly ahead." The tracker informed.

A vague smile appeared on the woman's face. Not only did she know that she could keep the two under the radar, but now she knew why all of their inventions kept going off around her son.

"Danny, Phantom, I need you two to take the Fenton Signature Scrambler upstairs and hide while we lower the defense system." Maddie ordered.

The two boys nodded and fulfilled her commands, clumsily disappearing up the stairs with the heavy machine. The woman glanced back down at her scanner. No ghosts were detectable. She took a deep breath before pushing the button under the table. Loud clinks and the sound of metal scraping against metal sounded as the shield was deactivated. Almost instantly, the door broke down. Operatives O and K stood before them with ecto-guns.

"Nobody move!" O ordered.

"Give us the location of the ghost boy or we will be forced to take action." K demanded.

"We have no idea where he is!" Jazz screamed. "He flew far, far away after _you_ tried to capture him."

Growling, K pulled out a tracker. "She's right. His signature isn't showing up. We'll have to keep searching."

O reluctantly lowered his gun. "Fine. But just remember, Fentons, we'll be keeping a close eye on you."

With that, the two agents left the home, practically stomping out the door in rage at not finding their culprit. The three Fenton family members sighed in relief. As soon as they were positive that the GiW agents were gone, they rushed up the stairs. Jack flung open the door, but it rebounded against something hard.

"Ow!" Came two nearly identical voices from the other side followed by two loud thumps.

Maddie opened the door slowly this time to find Danny and Phantom sitting on the floor, rubbing their heads. Well, at least now they knew what they hit.

"Eavesdropping, were we?" Jazz asked playfully, smirking and crossing her arms.

The two boys gave her sheepish grins that were _meant_ to look innocent, although nothing but "guilty" was written across their faces. The older sister grabbed their arms and pulled them to their feet.

"Well, it worked. They didn't detect your presences." Maddie stated.

"Yep! And now we're going to back down to the lab and make smaller versions that can be easily carried!" Jack shouted happily, bounding down the stairs. His wife smirked and followed after him.

* * *

A loud knock sounded on the door. 

"I'll get it!" Maddie called. She swung open the door to find Sam and Tucker.

"Hello, Sam. Hello, Tucker. Would you like me to get Danny and Phantom?" Maddie questioned.

"Yes, please." Sam responded.

"Danny, Phantom, come down! Sam and Tucker are here!" The woman called.

A few moments later, feet were heard thundering down the stairs.

"Hi, guys!" Both Dannys greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Danny and Danny." Sam joked. "We have something to give you."

The two tilted their heads to the side as if asking her what and why.

"Here's _your_ homework." Sam stated, dropping a large pile of papers on top of human Danny. "And here's _yours_." She huffed, dumping another large pile onto ghost Danny.

Maddie bit her lip to hold back her giggles at the looks on the boys' faces.

"Gee, thanks." Phantom commented sourly.

"You're welcome!" Sam replied brightly, giving off a big grin.

"And Lancer wants that back by tomorrow." Tucker added, a cruel smirk forming on his face.

"Fun." They both commented sarcastically, much to the amusement of Sam and Tucker.

"You know, you think that he'd give me-er, us- a break considering we're hiding for our lives." Danny Fenton said dryly.

"I know! It's going to take us forever to finish all of this!" Danny Phantom agreed in annoyance.

"Well, then you better get started. Enjoy!" Sam said cheerfully. Both her and Tucker waved mockingly with smiles plastered on their faces as they closed the door behind them. Once outside, they burst out in laughter.

"We'll be upstairs." Human Danny stated, heading up the stairs with his homework, Phantom following behind him.

"Finding out if it's illegal to give this much homework." Ghost Danny added in a muttered tone.

Jazz had to hold back a soft giggle at the last comment. Her brother was getting really good at this.

* * *

**Okay, after this, I'm going to try to un filler-itize it.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Thank you _Luiz4200 _for the chapter idea. It gave me a lot to work with.**

* * *

After Sam and Tucker had dropped off Danny's homework (and burst out laughing), they went their separate directions. For now, though, we will focus on Sam. 

Sam walked slowly up to her house and opened the front door only to be grabbed by a hefty man in a white suit.

"What the heck is going on?!" She shouted as she struggled against her captor.

A few more men in white suits appeared, including Operatives O and K **(ever notice how if you put those letters together, you either get**** OK [okay or KO [****knocked out** Three men behind them held her terrified mother, father, and grandma.

"Miss Manson, according to government records, Danny Phantom was marked as adopted by your family. Upon interrogation, neither your mother nor father can recall agreeing to this adoption or having the aforementioned ghost in their house at any point in time." O reported.

Sam cast a quick glance at her confused parents. Their expressions showed that they were slowly putting the puzzle pieces together.

"So what do you want from me?" The teen demanded, playing dumb.

"We want to know if you participated in any plan to put Danny Phantom under your family's name without their knowledge." K responded in monotone.

The interrogation was cut short when a man with blond hair, Operative L **(he exists! Check Livin' Large!)**, walked into the room.

"Sir, the ghost kid's not here." He reported. "But we searched the girl's room. We found some white hair, almost definitely Phantom's."

Sam had to hold back a short gasp. Great, now they had _proof_!

"Samantha, is what these men are saying true? You let the ghost kid near your _room_? _And_ you tricked us into adopting him?" Sam's mother charged.

"Mom, you don't understand!" Sam yelled desperately.

"Excuse me, but you can finish off this little chat later. Right now, all we need are his adoption papers. With those, we'll have full custody over him." O explained.

"I'm sorry, but we do not know where they might be." Sam's father apologized.

"May I point out that there is a major flaw in your scheme?" Sam's Grandma suddenly piped up. Everyone turned to stare at the little old lady in shock.

"And what would that be?" K interrogated.

"My granddaughter would not be old enough to sign up for the adoption volunteer program in the first place. She's only 16. **(Okay, some may argue, but I think that they would be about 16 by D-Stabilized.)**"

"Thank you so much for that little detail. Ida Manson, we now suspect _you_ of _helping_ her with this plan." O charged.

Sam gave her Grandma a surprised look. She practically just admitted that she had helped! In response to Sam's look, the grandmother just gave off a small smirk.

"Now we ask you again. _Where_ are the documents? And do you have any idea where Phantom is?" K demanded.

"He went to Florida!" Sam shouted. "He wanted to get away from _you_ **creeps**, so he flew away!"

"Interesting." K muttered. "Jasmine Fenton also said that he flew away."

Sam felt a tinge of relief that the stories had matched up.

"The stories agree." O concluded. "Alright, men, we'll meet up with the other team and if they agree as well, we're taking a trip to Florida. With any luck, the ghost kid will be there. But if he's not, we're coming back for you."

"What if he ran away _again_? He could go _anywhere_!" Sam continued.

"Phantom is a natural media attraction. He won't be able to stay hidden for long. Eventually, someone will spot him and we'll be able to confirm his whereabouts." K explained simply.

With that, the men released the family members and walked out the door, slamming it behind them. After a moment, Sam's parents turned to glare at her.

"Explain. Now." Her father demanded.

* * *

Danny was sitting up in his room, doing his homework, when a knock sounded on the window. Curiously, he looked over to see an exhausted Sam. The boy dashed to the window and flung it open for her. The Goth girl leaped inside and motioned for someone else. A moment later, Tucker climbed in as well, collapsing on the floor. 

"Guys, why did you climb through the window?" Danny questioned as Sam slammed the window shut.

"The Guys in White showed up at our houses." Sam reported. "They know we're helping you and that you were 'adopted' by my family."

"And they found out that I hung around with you. They crashed into my house and searched everywhere and…well, I forgot to turn off the computer and they saw some pictures of Phantom you, me, and Sam together." Tucker added.

"Right now, they think that you're in Florida." Sam informed.

"This…is bad. But, why couldn't you have just used the door?" Asked the half-ghost.

"You think our parents were glad about us hanging around with you? If they call here, we don't want your parents telling them." Tucker snapped.

"Oh, no. This is all my fault. If I had…" Danny started, but was cut off by his gothic friend.

"Danny, don't say that." Sam interrupted. "There isn't anything you could have done to prevent this. We just have to think of a way out of it, like we always do."

"Danny, Phantom, can I come in?" Maddie asked while knocking on the door.

Danny panicked and grabbed his friends' hands and turned them all invisible. Barely a second later, Maddie pushed the door open.

"Okay, I know you're in here. What are you two doing that you don't want me to know about?" Maddie questioned certainly.

Danny bit his lip nervously and squeezed his friends' hands tighter.

"Okay, fine, I'm going." The woman told them. She walked out the door, shutting I behind her.

Danny waited a few seconds before deciding that it was safe for him them to become visible again.

"Whew, that was close." Danny stated, but was caught off guard when the door slammed open.

"Sam? Tucker?" Maddie questioned. "What are you doing here? Where's Phantom?"

"Um…well…we…" Danny's two friends stuttered in response.

"Hey, look over there!" Danny shouted, but his mother simply glared at him. "Mom, Phantom's right behind you!"

Maddie sighed and decided to look behind her, finding nothing but air. But when she turned around, Phantom was now part of the small group.

"I'm not even going to ask." She stated, knowing full well that even if she did, she wouldn't receive a straight answer. "Sam, Tucker, do your parents know you're here?"

Neither answered.

"I'll call them." The ghost hunter volunteered.

"No!" Everyone shouted, moving in front of the door.

Maddie raised an eyebrow at their odd behavior.

Sam sighed and decided to give in. "Mrs. Fenton, our parents don't know we're here because we snuck out. The Guys in White stormed our houses looking for Danny-Phantom, that is-and let's just say our parents weren't too happy about it."

Maddie glanced at Tucker, who nodded in agreement.

"This is what I meant by 'everyone who gets close to me is in danger'." Phantom clarified. "Let's face it; I'm on the most wanted list in both the Earth _and_ the Ghost Zone. It's not safe for people to be around me."

"Danny, what are you getting at?" Sam prodded.

"I have to leave."

* * *

**Okay, I'm hoping that this will be my last little random problem.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey everyone. I have to make this quick because my brother is timing me. He say "You better be off in five minutes or I'm charging in."**

* * *

"What?!" Sam, Tucker, and Maddie screamed.

"Guys, just listen. It's not safe for people to be around me. The Guys in White stormed and searched your houses just because you _knew_ me! And…if I stay anywhere in the human world, they'll find me eventually. So, even though I hate to say it, I…I have to stay in the Ghost Zone." Danny planned.

"No!" Sam shouted. "You're _not_ going to leave and stay in the Ghost Zone! We want_-__**need-**_you here! That's why we're willing to make the sacrifices."

"This is why I have to go! You're willing to stop doing what's best for you to help me! I don't want you guys to get hurt! Especially because of me! I…I'd never be able to live with myself." Danny shouted, but finished sadly.

"Are you kidding?! It's_ because_ of you that we're still here! Danny, this town needs you. Sure, there are other ghost hunters, but they can't do what you can. They have to rely on weapons and they only have human strength and power, but you…you're beyond that. Danny, you were given these powers for a reason. I know it. I'd hate for you to not use them _for_ that reason." Sam lectured, grabbing his shoulders.

Danny looked away from her, showing his disagreement.

"So, what? That's just it? After all these years of struggling and sacrificing to protect this town, you're going to let it all be in vain just because of _the Guys in White_?" Tucker accused his friend.

"You don't understand. It's not _just_ the Guys in White I'm worried about. Remember those times when you skipped school or snuck out of your houses just to bail me out of trouble? Or how my enemies capture you to get revenge on me? Or how…how you almost died just for being my friends?" Danny finished sadly, turning away from his friends so that they wouldn't notice how his eyes were getting watery.

"Phantom, if you even _think_ about running away again, I swear I will lock you in an anti-ghost chamber until you get it through your head that you are _not_ leaving." Maddie threatened.

"Then what do you want me to do?!" Danny cried. "I have three options. One: protect the town and cause my friends pain. Two: protect my friends, but hurt everyone else in the process. Or three: leave and let the _professional_ ghost hunters take care of everything, but keep my friends safe and out of trouble with the only downside being my own misery. I don't know about you, but I'm taking option three. Who cares that I'll be miserable? As long as everyone's safe, I'll be fine."

Danny began to make a movement toward the door, so that he could leave. No one noticed that Danny Fenton was now missing.

"Tell everyone that I said goodbye and good luck." His voice almost cracked and he was trying hard to hold back tears.

His friends and Mom reached out for him, to stop him, but the ghost boy simply phased through their grasp.

"Danny, stop!" Sam pleaded.

"Don't go!" Tucker screamed as well.

Danny didn't even look their way as he began to phase through the floor. Desperately, the three people ran down to the lab where Phantom would be going to get access into the Ghost Zone. They arrived just as the doors slid open in front of him and he was approaching the swirling green vortex. He cast them one last sad glance and then…he was gone.

* * *

Danny was exhausted and had been flying for what seemed like hours, but had probably been only five or ten minutes. He had encountered about three ghosts who had wanted a fight. Danny won easily. Looking ahead, he saw Clockwork's castle in the distance. He avoided it, deciding that Clockwork would probably just bring him back. Frostbite was out of the question (besides, half of his people feared Danny now because of the little ice powers incident) and Dora would make him return as well. Tiredly, Danny settled on an isolated rock for a short nap. He had nowhere to go.

* * *

"He-he can't be gone!" Sam sobbed. 

"He is." Tucker stated grimly. "I knew that he could be irrational and reckless, but…this is overboard."

Maddie silently stared at the Ghost Zone. Phantom left. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She had inferred that the ghost kid was so selfless that it seemed more like recklessness, but…yikes.

Just then, Jack came down.

"What's everyone looking at?" He questioned.

"D-Danny…he's gone." Sam whispered softly.

"Phantom left." Maddie clarified for her husband. "He said that it wasn't safe for people to be around him."

Hearing that, Jack, too stared at the Ghost Zone. Didn't Phantom say that he _hated_ the Ghost Zone? Something must have been _really_ wrong for him to hide in there.

Jazz came down a minute later. She stopped dead as she took in the scene before her.

"Why is everyone staring at the Ghost Zone? Did I miss something?"

Sam turned to Jazz, her face hard and sad.

"Danny left." She said briefly, afraid that if she said anymore, her voice would crack.

Shock overwhelmed Jazz and her face showed it.

"What?! Why?!"

"He said…that he was putting us in danger by being around us." Tucker choked out, still stunned.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! We have to go find him!" Jazz shouted, breaking everyone out of their hollow trances.

"How?" Sam demanded.

"Like last time! All we have to do is…" Jazz started as she went for the Boomerang. She found it…in pieces. With it, there was a note.

"He's been planning this." She whispered in realization just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Listen to this."

"_Dear everyone,_

_By the time you read this, I'll probably be gone. I'm sorry that I broke this, but I knew you would go looking for it so that you can find me.__ I shouldn't be found, though. __Right now, it's been a few hours since__ the Guys in White tried capturing me and then you saved me__. That whole thing is what made up my mind.__ It's not safe for you to be around me.__ I'm positive that as you're reading this, other things have happened that finally pushed me to actually run away. I just want you all to know that I'm only doing this because I care. Trust __me;__ it's not to my personal benefit in the least. This will probably be the last __that anyone's ever heard of me unless I do come back, which will only be if I'm absolutely needed._" Jazz paused. "There's a tear stain." She stated before looking back down and continuing."_I only have a few last requests. One; Sam, Tucker, Jazz, I don't want you telling anyone you-know-what. __At least for a few months.__Two; This one's about Sam.__ Remember that ring I asked you to hold on to? It's yours now. I guess it always has been."_

Sam bit her lip here, holding back tears. She pulled the ring out of some unknown pocket and stared at it. "It says Sam." She whispered after inspecting it a little closer.

Jazz continued, her voice wavering. _"__Three; go beat the crud out of Vlad for me, would you?"_ Sad smiles appeared on the faces of this group at this comment. _"I know that you will all do a great job protecting the city, much better than I ever have.__ I'm so glad that I knew you all and I couldn't have wished for better friends.__This is where I'd probably state my regrets, but there's too many to fit on one sheet. One of my biggest, though, was that I wasn't able to tell you this in person." _Jazz's voice began to crack.

"I'll read the last part, honey." Maddie volunteered, seeing her daughter's state.

"No, I want to do it." Jazz refused. She took a deep breath before finishing. "_I want to tell you that I'm only doing what's best, but I'm not completely sure, so I'm only hoping that this is what's best. If not, I made a really lousy trade-off."_ Jazz gave a small chuckle, but her tears took away from it. _"I wish you all luck and hope that your futures are bright._

_Sincerely,_

_Danny__"_

Everyone's faces were downcast. The letter kept running through their minds. Even though Danny had worked so hard to put _some_ humor into it, it was still incredibly sad. It reminded them all of a letter that someone would have written on their deathbed.

"What's that?!" Jazz suddenly shouted as a bright light began to shine overhead.

* * *

**Hm. Kinda sad.**


	31. Chapter 31

**See? Before Friday. goth.one, I did not lie. So, yes, I've released my hostage chapter. (Go bug her if you're confused). :P**

* * *

In the Ghost Zone, a frown was planted firmly on the sleeping Danny's face. Unknown to him, a few ghosts had gathered around.

"The Ghost Child?" Skulker asked, although he could clearly see that it was Danny.

"What's Phantom doing here?" Johnny 13 questioned.

"He looks like he's…sleeping." Kitty responded.

"But why in the Ghost Zone? The human world is his dwelling." The robotic ghost pondered. "I must go find out."

"Aren't you usually hunting him, though?" A random ghost spoke up.

"Yes, but it takes all of the fun out of the hunt if there is no challenge." Skulker replied before flying off.

Once he was gone, everyone looked at Danny again. They noticed that he had started to move uneasily in his sleep…like he was having a nightmare. Then, he began murmuring softly.

"Oh, great. The kid talks in his sleep." Johnny said sarcastically.

"Shush!" Kitty hissed. "I want to hear what he's saying."

"No…leave…can't…let me go…" He began muttering. It seemed like a bunch of mumbled nonsense.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" A ghost whispered.

"I don't know. Let's keep listening." Kitty replied.

"Isn't this like an invasion of privacy or something?" Another specter piped up.

"Shhh!" Everyone shushed.

The ghost looked taken aback, but continued listening with the rest of the group.

"No. No. No…Please…" The ghost boy begged quietly while his body tossed and turned restlessly.

"I think he's having a nightmare." Kitty concluded, standing up as if that was all she needed to hear.

At that moment, Skulker sped back to the group.

"Phantom has left his own world." He reported, earning gasps, whispers, and cries of "what?!" "I just listened to the group that is always around him. They were talking about Phantom saying that he was leaving forever to protect them. Although, I fail to see how him running away to the Ghost Zone is going to help them. You think he'd know that he's the reason most of us stay in here for so long."

The group nodded in agreement. True, a lot of them were beaten so badly that they had to stay in the Ghost Zone a while to recover. Right at that moment, a bright flash erupted on the scene. When the blinding light had subsided, a figure covered in a purple cloak and clocks floated. Whispers exploded from all over the crowd about the new member. Only a few recognized the ghost.

"Clockwork." Someone whispered in awe.

Clockwork moved swiftly through the crowd toward Danny. Gently, he lifted the boy up. Danny didn't even stir. Quite the opposite, actually. He relaxed in his guardian's arms, bringing an end to his thrashing and painful mumbling. The ghost of time let a small smile slide on his face. Everyone watched in amazement as the Master of Time raised his staff and then disappeared in the same blinding flash that he entered in.

* * *

_"What's that?!" Jazz suddenly shouted as a bright light began to shine overhead._

Sam, Tucker, Maddie, and Jack whipped their heads up to the direction the red-head was pointing in. They observed the light and noticed a clock form at the center. It was a portal. With another bright flash, a ghost laden in clocks and watches appeared, but that wasn't what caught their eyes. It was what-or should I say, _who_-he was holding.

"Danny/Phantom!" The group screamed happily upon seeing the ghost boy.

Jack and Maddie got ready to fire at his "captor", but the ghost spoke.

"I am not here to fight. I am here to simply return the boy." Clockwork stated.

Hesitantly, the two ghost hunters lowered their guns. The ghost tenderly placed the still sleeping boy on the floor.

"W-Who are you?" Maddie stuttered. Of course, Sam and Tucker already knew the answer and Jazz was almost positive she knew as well.

"_I_…am Clockwork; ghost Master of Time. I am also young Danny's guardian." The ghost introduced while changing between child, adult, and old man.

Everyone looked back and forth between Danny and Clockwork, even Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. They had known that Clockwork was the Master of Time, but since when was he Danny's guardian?

"Guardian?" Jack blurted in confusion.

"Yes." Confirmed the time ghost, switching into the form of an old man. "I have been charged with the task of making sure that Danny's life runs as it's supposed to and observing it. Now, I am simply correcting it by returning him to Amity Park." Clockwork then formed another portal, getting ready to leave. "By the way, you might want to bring him upstairs and put a ghost shield around the room. He's going to try it again. And tell him that I said hello."

With that, the ghost vanished into the portal, leaving everyone staring at the unawake Danny.

"Is he unconscious?" Jazz whispered, noticing that her brother hadn't moved yet.

"I think he's asleep." Sam answered.

"Well, we'd better get him upstairs like Clockwork said." Tucker input.

"And put up the ghost shield." Sam added.

The two adults looked at the teenagers' determined faces before nodding in agreement. Jack, being the biggest, walked over to the ghost boy and lifted him up before proceeding to carry him up the stairs with the others both in front and behind him. Once they entered the living room, Jack placed the boy on the couch. Maddie went over to a control panel and turned on the Ghost Shield.

Quietly, Sam stepped over to the sleeping Danny and bent down next to him. She reached for one of his white-gloved hands and tenderly opened it. Then, she took out the ring again and placed it in his palm before closing his hand around it and folding it back to its original position.

"I know you said it's mine," She whispered softly "but I want _you_ to give it to me in person."

The Goth girl rose back to her feet somberly and walked over to Tucker and Jazz.

"Guys, his parents should know. Look what's happened to him. This all could have been avoided if they knew." Sam stated.

"We know, Sam, but it's his secret, not ours. He'll tell them when he's ready." Jazz debated.

"Who knows? Maybe this will convince him to tell them." Tucker added positively.

"Tucker, it's _Danny_ we're talking about." Sam stated, making the three of them smile at the small joke.

"Kids, quick, he's waking up!" Maddie reported urgently.

* * *

**Okay, my brain is moving kind of slow right now. Suggestions for stuff in the next chapter would be helpful. Like, do you want Danny and Sam to get together? Should Danny's parents find out? C'mon! I need something to work with!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Okay, time to start wrapping things up...in a few more chapters.**

* * *

Everyone created a circle around Danny as he began to groan and shift. Slowly, his bright green eyes opened. That was as far as he got before Sam crushed him in a hug.

"Sam? But…I should be in the Ghost Zone." He muttered in complete confusion.

"Clockwork says hello." Jazz piped up, knowing her brother would get it.

Danny let out a low chuckle, but stopped abruptly when he finally noticed the object in his hand. He brought it closer to his face to inspect it and then frowned when he realized what it was.

"Huh?" He uttered in puzzlement.

Sam brought out the note in response.

"This look familiar to you?" She teased.

"Oh, that." The boy uttered embarrassedly.

"Danny…how long were you planning this?" Jazz interrogated.

"Well…um…see…you guys have to understand that there was a lot going on and…" The half-ghost stuttered. He looked at his sister's hard expression. "I started thinking about it the moment the Guys in White grabbed me, but…I guess I've thought about it before, too, but didn't have a good enough reason." Danny lowered his head slightly, knowing that no one would like this answer.

He was shocked when Jazz, Sam, and Tucker grabbed him in a big hug. They stayed like that for a good minute before letting go.

"I don't understand. I thought you would be mad." Danny thought aloud.

"No, but we will be if you ever try that stunt again." Sam snapped playfully.

Danny got up from the couch. "But if I stay here then you're all going to be in the line of fire!"

Sam grabbed his gloved hands gently and looked him straight in the eyes. "Danny, don't you think that we know that? I speak for all of us when I say that I don't care. I'm your friend Danny, we all are, and we'll stick by your side no matter what. Even when you do incredibly stupid things like this."

The ghost boy's head tilted toward the ground. Seeing that he needed a little more encouragement, Sam lightly kissed him on the cheek. Danny winced in emotional pain.

"Sam, I can't do this. Not to you, not to anyone." He responded, fighting back tears. He wriggled out of her grip and made to leave again. Fortunately, he hit the ghost shield, preventing his escape.

Sam instantly went over and kneeled down by him. "Clockwork said that you'd try it again." She looked deeply sad. "Please, just stay. _Clockwork_ brought you back! Doesn't that mean anything? He's the Master of Time, I'm sure he knows what's best. I don't even care that you don't like me the way…the way that I like you. Just…stay….please."

"I never said I didn't like you." Danny admitted, distraught. "It's _because_ I like you that I can't be with you."

"That's the most messed up logic I've ever heard." The Goth girl commented, trying to give him a small smile, but failing.

"I just can't _stand_ to watch you get hurt. Especially all because of me." The boy confessed. "Did I ever tell you what the worst part of my nightmares was? What made them almost unbearable?"

Sam shook her head, tears still threatening to fall from her violet eyes.

"It was always that I had to watch _you_ die." He responded miserably. "Everyone else was usually dead already, but you'd always be the last one. The one that I had to _see_ die. And if it was a dream that I was killing people, I found that most of the time it was _you_…because that would be one of the worst things that I could imagine."

Sam lost her battle of holding back tears and couldn't take it anymore. She flung herself forward onto Danny and embraced him tightly, refusing to let go. Both of their faces were buried in each other's bodies. They remained like this for endless moments until they finally broke apart. Tear stains streaked down both of their cheeks.

"Danny, I'm not going anywhere." Sam assured, keeping his hands in hers. "And you're not, either. The town needs you. Tucker, Jazz, and Mr. and Mrs. Fenton need you. _I_ need you."

Danny gave her a sad smile. "There's no way I'm going to win this argument, is there?"

A relieved smirk washed over Sam's face as she leaned in and hugged her ghost boy tightly. "Not a chance."

The nice moment was interrupted, however, by Tucker's cry of "Yes! I won the bet, Jazz! Pay up."

Jazz grumbled as she handed him a small wad of bills. As the exchange occurred, Danny and Sam composed themselves enough to glare at the two.

"You were betting on us?!" Sam scolded.

Jazz and Tucker shrunk back embarrassedly and more than a little afraid. Jack and Maddie shied away as well.

"Well…um…" Tucker stuttered. "We figured you two would get together _eventually_, so we were betting on whether it would be before or after some catastrophic event."

The couple's faces were turning red. Whether it was anger, embarrassment, or both was unclear.

"But, Danny," Jazz piped up, trying to break the murderous glare her and Tucker were receiving "Shouldn't you make it official first?"

Danny's face was now determined to be red with embarrassment. The ring. Right.

Just then, Maddie remembered her own son. This was going to break his heart. She knew that he liked Sam, after all, and now Phantom was going to ask her to be his girlfriend. She scanned the room, checking for Danny Fenton's face to see how disappointed he was. She froze when she didn't see him.

"Wait!" She spoke up, urgently. "Where's Danny? Danny Fenton?"

A wave of panic hit the ghost boy as he realized that Danny Fenton had not been around in a while. Fortunately, all of the practice with duplicating himself paid off. A few seconds later, Danny duplicate entered the area.

"Sorry. I left when Phantom and Sam started getting all mushy. There's only so much romance a guy can take!" Danny Fenton apologized, joining the group.

Maddie decided that he was probably hurting on the inside.

"Danny." Jazz pestered. "Isn't there something you're forgetting?"

Danny snapped out of his distraction and chuckled nervously as he looked back at Sam. "Oh, yeah." He began fumbling for the ring. Luckily, his Dad didn't notice that it was the same ring he had given Danny _Fenton_ during freshman year.

His soon-to-be girlfriend giggled. "You're cute when you're nervous." She blushed after she said that.

Danny's face got even redder after the comment. Finally, he managed to get a sturdy hold on the ring. The ghost boy took a deep breath before looking at Sam again. "Um…I'm not exactly an expert at this, but…" He stumbled "I like you, Sam. A lot. And I have for a really long time. I can't imagine my life without you and I want to always be by your side and protect you. So…um…would you like to be my girlfriend?"

A grin split Sam's face. "More than anything." She swore that she was going to cry tears of joy.

Danny's smile was huge and loving as he carefully slipped the ring onto his girlfriend's delicate fingers. He looked up when he was done and met her eyes. In that instance, they both felt a spark and reacted to it by kissing each other passionately.

* * *

**For those of you who said that you didn't want Danny and Sam to get together after that whole "run away to protect them" thing, I hope that this helps with that. And for those individuals who wanted Danny to have a fit, was that good enough?**

**Anyways, bye! And review please (even though I probably won't be able to reply to them because fanfiction won't send them to me and I'll have to read them over the stats).**


	33. Chapter 33

**Eh. No one reads these cooments anyways.**

* * *

The kiss lasted a good amount of time. Several of the occupants in the room were just about ready to separate them by the time they pulled apart.

"Wow." Sam gasped, breathless. "You're a really good kisser."

"You're not so bad yourself." Danny flirted. Then, he whispered something in her ear. "I guess all of those fake-out-make-outs helped."

The Goth girl giggled. Yes, _giggled_.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Danny and Sam snapped out of their little cozy moment, but kept their hands intertwined. Jack went and opened the door, revealing Valerie.

"Hi! I came back to see…" She trailed when she noticed Danny Phantom and Sam standing _really_ close together and the expressions on everyone's faces. "What did I miss?"

"The short version?" Tucker piped up. "Danny Phantom running away, being brought back by the ghost Master of All Time, and him and Sam becoming a couple as well as kissing for so long that you think they'd suffocate."

Valerie glanced at the new couple again. Their faces had returned to blushing and she noticed that they were holding hands. The dark-skinned girl smirked.

"It's about time." She stated, making Danny and Sam blink in confusion.

"_You_ too?" Danny groaned.

Valerie chuckled. This was fun!

"Okay, is there anyone else here who was betting on us?" Sam questioned pointedly.

"Well…" Tucker lead.

Valerie picked up. "You guys have about half of the school behind you."

Danny and Sam's mouths hung agape. Finally, Danny regained enough control to stutter out a sentence.

"H-half the school?!"

"Wait." Sam commanded. "What was the other half, then?"

Valerie was the one to answer. "Well, for Sam, everyone else was betting either Danny Fenton or a few Goth guys. For Phantom…Mostly girls who were letting themselves believe that they had a shot at you."

At this, Danny turned completely red again and Sam began laughing at his expression. Then, she shoved him lightly with her body.

"Hey, don't let that all go to your head." She teased.

Danny chuckled nervously, causing his face to turn an even more vibrant red, much to the entertainment of the surrounding crowd.

Just then, the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Jazz called, running over to the phone. She picked it up. "Oh, hello Mr. Lancer." She paused, waiting for the other end to reply. "Yeah." Another pause for Mr. Lancer to talk. "No, he can't come to the phone right now." Pause. "Tomorrow?!" Pause. "Are you sure?" _Another_ pause. "Okay, but you'd better come here instead." Last pause. "Alright, bye." She hung up the phone. Then, she turned to her assembled friends and family. "Mr. Lancer's coming over tomorrow to discuss Danny _Phantom's_ future involvement in school. He says that a _non_-Guys in White government agent is coming over as well. If they find what they're looking for, then they're going to consider taking Danny out of school and will _hopefully_ be able to get a restraining order against the Guys in White."

Everyone still looked a little edgy, especially the ghost boy. Maddie sighed, breaking the tense silence.

"When are they coming over?" She questioned.

"Tomorrow at one." Jazz responded anxiously.

All of the faces in the room reflected her fretful one. This was going to be very stressful.

* * *

Meanwhile, Vlad was watching the events with irritation. 

"I can't _believe_ those fools overrode me!" He bellowed angrily. "Well, if they want to play it that way, then it looks like they should add a new player to the game…me."

* * *

It was the next day and Danny (Phantom), Sam, Tucker, Valerie, Jazz, Jack, and Maddie were pacing around the room anxiously, waiting for the arrival of the teacher and government agent. 

"I can't believe that Danny's missing this just so he can do homework at the library." Jack whispered to Maddie.

"Jack, he's probably uncomfortable enough as it is. Besides, at least he's making an effort towards his grades." The woman responded. Jack gave her a quick nod before rejoining the pacing group.

A sharp rapping was heard against the door and the two adults rushed to open it, revealing Mr. Lancer and the man who had told Danny about the whole adoption thing.

"Please, come in." Maddie ushered politely even though this whole thing was ticking her off a lot.

The two men walked inside. The agent was the first to notice Danny.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Phantom." He greeted.

Danny shrugged uncomfortably. He cautiously watched both men as his parents invited them to sit on two smaller chairs while everyone else took chairs and couches opposite them. Danny was front and center.

"So, Mr. Phantom," Lancer started "I take it everything has already been explained."

The boy nodded, feeling very self-conscious. It didn't help that everyone was staring at him.

"Then you know that we are not against you." The agent interrupted.

Danny nodded in agreement again.

"First off, I would like you to state at least three reasons why you think that you should no longer have to attend Casper High." The agent requested.

"I'm a distraction to the other students, school leaves me pretty tired for ghost fighting, and it may get dangerous if I suddenly get a new power and it randomly goes off." Danny answered quickly, having had a lot of time to think about that. "Shall I go on?"

"That's enough." Lancer sighed. "Now, can you list all of the…encounters you've had with the Guys in White and what was happening during that time?"

"Well, there was the time that Vl-someone, put a million dollar bounty on me, the time when they just felt like trying to destroy me, the time-wait, that doesn't count, that was an alternate reality-so, um, and then there was the time when they tried to destroy the entire Ghost Zone to stop all the ghosts along with the 'annoying Phantom kid.'" Danny quickly replied, having just about every single one of those burned into his memory.

The teacher and agent exchanged looks before staring at Danny, who squirmed uncomfortably. Behind him, Sam and Tucker were nodding in agreement.

"So…uh…is that all?" Danny inquired, interrupting the awkward silence.

"I think not." A smooth voice interrupted. Two seconds later, Plasmius dropped down from the ceiling, a smirk playing on his face as he blasted the surprised Danny into the wall…hard.

Danny peeled himself from the spot.

"What do you want _now_, Plasmius?" The boy demanded. "Haven't you already complicated my life enough?"

"No, not really." The older half-ghost smirked, blasting Danny again.

A glowing green ecto-shield brimmed from Danny's hands and deflected the blast. As soon as the immediate threat was gone, he dropped the force field and thrusted his body through the air and at Plasmius. As if on instinct, Plasmius moved ever so slightly so that Danny wouldn't hit him before snatching the boy's wrist and swinging him around (nearly breaking Danny's wrist in the process) so that they were face to face.

"Now, Daniel," Plasmius hissed "We both know that this war can't last forever. Eventually, one of us is going to have to surrender or else face the consequences. And let me tell you, it's not going to be me."

"No way, Plasmius!" Danny denied, futilely trying to wriggle out of the man's grasp. "I'm not giving up and I'm joining you. Never."

The elder held Danny's face slightly farther from his own. "So quick to play the hero, are you? What would you do if your friends and family were in trouble? Or what if I decided to torture your little girlfriend? She's only human after all."

Danny's blood ran cold and is face grew extremely serious. "Don't…you…dare."

"Or what? You're in no position to hurt me." As if to prove this, Plasmius shocked Danny long and hard. The boy almost passed out by the time he stopped. "What about now? Perhaps I should move on to your girlfriend. It would seem fair that since my loved one was stolen from me, you should feel the same pain. Maybe _then_ you'd understand."

Danny's glowing green eyes widened. Then, they narrowed and he clenched his teeth, snarling. "Don't you even _think_ about touching he r."

"Again with the empty threats. So, I ask again, what are _you_ going to do about it?" Plasmius began zapping Danny again. The boy cried out in pain as the shock seared through every molecule of his body.

However, the shock was cut short by an ecto-blast. Danny's limp form was flung from Vlad's hands and onto the floor while the older half-ghost was thrusted back.

"Stay away from him!" Sam ordered, holding a smoking ecto-gun.

Everyone else seemed to get the same idea and grabbed the nearest ghost weapon, charging it up and aiming it at Vlad. The aforementioned half-ghost seemed to understand that he was outnumbered and outmatched.

"Fine. I'll leave, but be warned that I will return and when I do…you'd better watch your backs." With a flick of his cape, Plasmius vanished.

Seeing that the villain was gone, everyone in the room turned their attention back to the hurt ghost boy. The eyes of the room occupants, especially Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, widened as they beheld the sight before them. A simple ring of amazing blue-white light had formed around the ghost boy's waist. The ring slowly split into two and then began moving in opposite directions. Every inch they moved apart revealed another inch of an alternate person. When they finally reached their limits and disappeared, it was no longer Danny Phantom laying there. Instead, it was someone else.

Danny Fenton.

* * *

**Everyone happy now?**


	34. Chapter 34

**Oh. My. Gosh.**

**LAST CHAPTER!!! IT'S DONE!!!**

**:D**

* * *

The whole room was in shocked silence for a moment before anyone could speak.

"Huh…wha-" Valerie stammered.

Sam, Jazz, and Tucker immediately took their positions in front of their unconscious friend.

"I know that this is very strange and all, but…" Jazz began.

"Heck, yeah it is!" Valerie shouted in agreement.

"_But_," Sam picked up "Danny is…he's half-ghost. He's Danny Fenton _and_ Danny Phantom. He became half-ghost in the Ghost Portal accident and has kept it a secret since then."

"But…I-I saw them in the same room!" Lancer stuttered.

"Danny can duplicate himself. But only for an hour or so. Then, he gets too tired and has to become one again." Tucker answered.

"Well, that would certainly explain a few things." The teacher noted. It would explain the identical papers, the similar movements, and how they would talk at the same time or sound exactly alike.

The government agent stared at the unconscious boy nervously before returning his gaze to the group, who had now begun to notice him.

"Sir, _please_ don't tell anyone about Danny." Sam begged, something she did not normally do.

"If anyone knew they might…" Tucker began, but trailed. "They might hurt him. And the Guys in White would be all over him with painful tests and no one would ever treat him the same again."

The agent nodded in understanding. "This will be kept strictly confidential. The world is not ready for something like this, especially not the Guys in White morons."

"Wait. Morons? But aren't they _part_ of the government?" Jazz inquired.

"Unfortunately, yes. It was a requirement." The man responded, seemingly irritated.

"So, no one will know about Danny?" Sam asked with hope in her voice.

The man shook his head grimly. "There are a few people that will need to be informed in order for us to be able to protect him and restrain the Guys in White. But I assure you, they will not be able to use it against him."

Everyone in the room sighed. Just then, Danny began to stir. It took all of two seconds for the group to rush over to him.

"Guys, back off a little. You're going to give him a heart attack. This will be hard enough as it is." Jazz urged.

Other than Sam, Tucker, and herself, everyone backed away a few feet.

Slowly, Danny's blue eyes started to slide open. Sam smiled at him.

"Hey, sleepy." She greeted, trying to calm him down before the big news was laid on.

The half-ghost smiled back at her and tried to get up. His face twisted into a grimace and he clutched his side in pain before Sam pushed him gently back down.

"Easy there, buddy." Tucker urged. "You took a pretty hard hit."

"It wasn't _that_ bad." He slurred. Suddenly, a look of realization dawned on Danny's face. His brain kicked into overdrive. They seemed like they were nervous. Too nervous just for him passing out. His eyes widened as, against his friends' protests, he brought his hand up to his face. No white glove. Uh-oh.

The group noticed panic wash over the young boy's face as he noticed this change. Danny looked like he was about to start hyperventilating.

"Woah, calm down Danny." Jazz tried, noting her brother's state. It didn't work.

"But…I'm…do they…how…" The half-ghost stammered uncontrollably.

"Yeah, Danny, they know." Jazz answered.

However, this had caused Danny to breathe even faster and then pass out again.

"That went well." Tucker said in bright sarcasm.

* * *

The government agent had left as well as Lancer. Now, only Danny's family and friends remained, surrounding his bed while he lay there unconscious. They had been doing that for over an hour. He really took it hard. Finally, he woke up again. 

"Please tell me you're not going to pass out again." Sam joked with a smile on her face. Maybe it would keep him calm.

"Huh?" He breathed, not really getting it at first. Then he remembered everything. Instinctively, he shot up in bed…making him fall off of it in his frantic rush. He was on the blue-carpeted floor, looking up at the curious faces of his parents and Valerie.

"Yep, that's definitely Danny." Valerie confirmed with a giggle. He always was clumsy.

Now, Danny looked completely baffled. Why were they just…standing there?

Sam, Tucker, and Jazz helped him off of the floor.

"I-I-I don't understand." He stated. "I thought you guys would be freaking out by now."

He was answered by a crushing hug from his parents. He enjoyed it for a little bit…until he couldn't get any oxygen.

"Mom…Dad…can't…breathe." He gasped from within the embrace. His parents let go, still smiling like madmen.

"Don't worry, dude, we told them everything." Tucker informed.

"And we couldn't be more proud." Jack finished.

The boy let a massive smile take over his face. Then, he looked over to Valerie. She was smirking.

"Looks like I know where you keep disappearing to, now." She teased.

Danny smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah. Heh, heh, about that…I'm…sorry. I should have told you a long time ago, but…" He apologized.

"Don't be. I wouldn't have told me either." She admitted, trying to hide her anger at herself for what she had done to him earlier.

Jazz smiled as she watched. "Group hug!" She called.

Without protest, they all heaped together.

* * *

It was time for school. Danny walked down the halls with his girlfriend and his _two_ best friends by his side. They all walked to class smiling. 

As they went, students stared at how Danny and Sam were holding hand. There were multiple cries of "I win!" and "Finally! Okay, dude, pay up." In those few moments, there was a lot of money exchanged.

The couple giggled.

"I think I know who the hot couple today is." Valerie joked.

"Seriously, this is the biggest news since…like, ever!" Tucker added.

The group entered the classroom, where Mr. Lancer was waiting. After everyone had entered and class had started, the teacher spoke up.

"Mr. Fenton, may I please speak with you?" Lancer requested.

Danny's previously happy expression faded just slightly as anxiety took its place. He stood up and walked to the educator.

"Class, I will only be gone a minute." Lancer warned before stepping out into the hall with Danny. He turned to the young boy who stared back at him with curious eyes. "I guess you already know what this is about."

Danny nodded, keeping his eyes on Mr. Lancer.

"I…think that I owe you an apology." Lancer amended.

The young half-ghost look surprised by this. He hadn't expected his teacher to say _that_.

"Wait…you're _apologizing_ to me?"

"Yes." Lancer answered. "Now that I realize what has been happening, I guess it seems a bit unfair." Danny just blinked in shock. "So, I have worked out a system. I will allow you to leave to fight ghosts and I'll be more…lenient with the homework, but if your grades fall beneath Cs, I'll have to keep you after school to get you caught up. Understand?"

Danny nodded rapidly as a wide grin split across his face. The teacher smiled slightly as well.

"Now, go back to class." He ordered. Lancer could have sworn that the boy was about to lift off of his feet and _fly_ in there.

The educator shook his head at the good spirit the boy was showing before entering the class himself.

* * *

The sun was now setting and, on a hill, sat Danny and Sam. 

"So, looks like things are starting to change for the better." Danny stated.

"Much better." Sam agreed.

At that moment, they both locked eyes. Identical smiles split their lips as they leaned in and kissed. It took seemingly endless minutes before they broke apart.

"Definitely better." Danny agreed, his forehead still resting against his girlfriend's.

She giggled as she backed away a bit so that they were only holding hands. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so." The half-ghost replied with a grin. He stood up, changing into his ghost form, and picked her up bridal style. She laughed softly as he did this and took off.

They were soaring along for a few minutes when Valerie flew by them, Tucker on the back of her board. She laughed.

"Hey, lovebirds!" The techno-geek greeted as they flew parallel to each other.

"For once, we can't really deny that!" Sam agreed.

"I think I like it that way." Danny commented, looking lovingly at his girlfriend as they all flew into the rising night.

For once, the world seemed _right_.

* * *

**Yes. It's all over now. No sequal. No anything. It's done.**

**I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this story.**

**Now, I can move on to my _other_ story. I already have the first chapter written. Now, I'm just debating over when to put it up.**


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